It's not easy bein' a hero in high school
by Livinginpublic
Summary: I had a thought - what if Billy and Teddy when to high school and were on the Young Avengers together as Hulking and Wiccan… but neither knew each other's real identity? Highschool AU with an angsty Billy perspective. Currently T, but M later.
1. Chapter 1

Theodore Altman was a _dick._

Billy didn't care what anyone else said. The boy was a _dick_.

'Teddy' was the captain of the football team, all-sporty and perfect in every annoying little way. Great smile, wonderful hair, a laugh that made all the girls swoon and giggled and flutter their eyes suggestively at him. He was king of the school.

And he _knew_ it. He was so arrogant, walking around like he owned the place! Who did he think he was?

To make matters worse, Billy was totally head over heels in love with the jerk. Billy didn't dare act on his feelings; do anything that might even begin to indicate. No, nobody had to know what he did behind closed doors, with the Teddy in his head – he locked those feelings deep, DEEP down. Still, when he was hugging his pillow, drooling a little in his near sleeping state, he'd allow himself that sneaky, knowing smile and his brain would fill up and spill over with 'his Teddy', the nice one that Billy had created for himself.

It was so hard to even begin to connect his Teddy with the real one. While his Teddy smiled at him with warmth and affection, the real Teddy barely gave him a second glance, except to maybe laugh when one of his friends pushed him into a locker. His Teddy would have gotten mad at them, told them off and helped him up. But the real one just kept walking.

Billy was a target for bullies. He was small and nerdy, talked a little too much about comic books and a little too little about girls. When the rumours had started to spread that he was gay, Billy was heartbroken – it didn't matter that it was true. It always hurt more to hear Teddy laugh when his friends called 'get lost, fag!" then it ever hurt hitting the locker doors.

Worse still about the whole situation was that if they knew what Billy did at night, when he wasn't alone in his room that was, they'd probably think he was the coolest guy in school. Billy was a superhero – The brilliant and scarily powerful Wiccan. He saved the world. He trained with _the_ Captain America. His mother was the Scarlet Witch. People _feared_ him as much as they revered him.

But nobody knew about that. Not even the other Young Avengers knew his true identity. It was something they had privately agreed upon – keep them hidden. If they didn't know each other's identity then they couldn't reveal it under threat of torture. It was a pretty safe system. There was only one Young Avenger who knew his real identity and that was Speed.

Tommy Shepard was his twin brother, for all intents and purposes, so it was only fair that family gave the reveal. Tommy went to Billy's school, but they'd never really talked until they found out who they really were to one another. Tommy made an effort after that to check up on him. He was a dick sometimes as well, but he never made Billy feel worthless, or like he didn't belong.

Naturally the attention Tommy started giving Billy didn't go un-noticed. Rumours spread that they were an item and it wasn't until another boy tried to push Tommy into a locker for being a 'raging fag' that the truth came out. Tommy had put the guy on his ass in the middle of the hallway.

"He's my brother you DICK!" Tommy had shouted before slamming the other boy into the lockers. This just made more rumours fly and suddenly Tommy and Billy were a focus of attention – everyone wanted to know how the boys, who looked nothing alike and didn't live with one another, in fact had barely known each other, were brothers.

The story they invented was simple – twins, separated at birth and adopted out to separate families. It certainly earned him some sympathy points from the bullies, but mostly he figured that they didn't want Billy's psychotic twin brother coming after them.

After that nobody asked questions.

Billy never used his powers against the bullies. He couldn't control them fully yet and… well, he could _hurt_ them. God, that was ironic, he'd thought with a bitter laugh as he picked himself up out of the dirt one day. They couldn't give two cents about Billy, but he was all about making sure they didn't get hurt.

Now the Young Avengers, _they_ were his friends. They kept him safe, joked with him, laughed with him. Patriot was a little uptight, but Billy liked him anyway – the Cap certainly liked the young man and Patriot had been practically glowing when the Cap had clapped him on the shoulder and told him he was doing well.

Hawkeye and the Iron Lad were good too, always good for a laugh. Hawkeye was a feisty thing, who often got into fights with the original Hawkeye in training sessions. She'd borrowed his name sake and his costume when he was presumed dead. Now he was back and wondering why jail bait was wandering around with his arrows slung across her back. Iron Lad… well, he was from the future. Billy chose not to question that.

And then there was Hulking.

Hulking was his partner – the group had just automatically started pairing them together on missions and patrols. They worked well together. After the first week of training it had been obvious they were the perfect team. Hulking would almost anticipate Wiccan's movements and vice versa – there was no thought, not talking, no need to really communicate at all. They just moved instinctively, snapping into place like neatly carved puzzle pieces.

Billy liked Hulking. He was nice and sweet, his smiles all shy and nervous, his words carefully picked and sometimes even stuttered. Everyone took one look at Hulking and practically ran away in fear – big and green with piercings along his ears like that? But Billy knew he wasn't the big scary monster everyone thought he was. He'd seen Hulking rescue a freezing kitten in the rain one afternoon as they headed home from training, the little thing meowing pathetically at them. Hulking had practically melted at the sight, curling the tiny creature to his chest.

That was just another reason to hate stupid Teddy Altman. He had the same piercings as Hulking and had claimed, loudly and at length, that he'd gotten them done because Hulking was the toughest and scariest hero of the Young Avengers. "Obviously he's a vicious murder. Just look at him!" He'd laughed. That was the first time Billy had ever wanted to punch Teddy in the face or otherwise cause him some kind of physical pain. But he'd settled for just bitterly shouldering his backpack and leaving the library in a huff, ignoring the catcalls of Teddy's friends that followed him out. Why did they even go to the library? It's not like they studied.

But that didn't mean he stopped liking Teddy. He'd been in the library again, hiding at a table in the back corner, trying to get all his homework out of the way so when he got home from training tonight he could just fall into bed rather than have to stay up and finish it, when Teddy and his friends came in one more.

Billy was really getting sick of this. He needed to find a new study spot. He tried to ignore them, focusing on world history, when Teddy's voice cut across his partial concentration.

"No, really, Wiccan is _amazing_." Billy's pen froze on the page and his eyes widened, but he managed to keep them on the page.

"Dude, he's so small! It's like, pathetic." Then Teddy laughed.

"Haven't you seen some of the videos? The dude is BAD ASS. He had like, unlimited powers or some shit. Did you not see the way he teleported an ENTIRE BUS full of people out of the way from that falling rubble? Or went he made that giant slime thing EXPLODE?" Billy had to fight to keep from blushing. Teddy spoke of Wiccan with a reverence, in the same voice that Teddy's idiotic friends had talked about girls.

"I thought Hulking was the best Young Avenger?" One of his friends argued.

"Yeah, he is," Teddy argued defensively, "but Wiccan and Hulking work together man. You gotta give Wiccan some points."

"Yeah, alright, he's kinda cool I guess. But what about that Hawkeye chick?" he whistled, "She is FINE. I got an arrow for her to handle, if you know what I mean!" Then laughter and the sick jokes. Billy wondered what Hawkeye would say if she knew. She'd probably smack them on the upside of their head. The thought made him snort – maybe a little too loudly.

"What you laughing at, fag?" One of Teddy's friends sneered, noticing him in his corner. Billy rolled his eyes and returned to his work. He couldn't be bothered with this today, and he actually had a lot to do.

"Oi, I'm talking to you! Are your ears to full of your fucking gay pixie dust to hear me?" the boy had continued, but Billy ignored him some more, scribbling some notes on the paper. His shouldered tightened and he tried to look like he was concentrating, not fighting the urge to leap across the table and shoot powerful bolts of lightning at the boy.

_Hitler's avowed aim was to establish a __New Order __of absolute Nazi Germ__an __hegemony…_

"Guess your ears are too full of it! Want me to come over there and smack it out? Bet your brother wouldn't even mind if I did, you're suck a little prick. It must suck for him, having such a fag like you as a brother." Laughter.

…_His foreign and domestic policies had the goal of seizing __Lebensraum __(__living space__) for the __Germanic… _

Don't respond. Don't look up. Ignore him. Ignore h-

"Hey, fag, want me to come over there?" The boy continued. Something in Billy snapped.

"God, Jacob," He said haughtily, "if you wanted to hook up, you could just ask!" The table went quiet and Billy was surprised at his own courage.

"What did you just say?" Jacob asked darkly. Billy stood, scooping up his books and throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"If there's one thing we 'gay' kids have it's a _fantastic_ gaydar. I know for a fact you're a bottle blonde, you spend way too much time lookin' at Teddy's ass to be 'admiring his playing skills', not to mention you felt up Tommy last summer at Kel's party. Yeah. He told me. So shut your mouth, you hypocritical closet case, and grow some freaking balls, you simpering girl." Billy shot bitterly. He only took in Jacob's horrified and infuriated expression for a few seconds before he was out the door of the library and resolvedly deciding to go home.

It took all of ten minutes for Jacob to find him, two friends on his side. By the time he got away, his powers still unused, he was barely aware of his surroundings. How he made home he didn't know – he was about 70% sure he teleported. He'd just landed on his bed and stayed there, aching and bleeding, until his alarm went off, warning him it was time for training. He didn't want to go. The last real battle was so long ago that Billy could hardly claim leftover damage. He sighed, and moved to the bathroom for a shower.

Well now, that was a sight. Busted lip, a cut over his eyebrow that had reopened in the shower, bruises that were steadily growing over his cheek and chest; he'd look like hell in the morning. He stuck a butterfly bandage over the cut on his forehead and tired his hardest not to wince as he slid into his costume. In his costume his wounds looked bad ass. As Billy they just looked pathetic.

He really didn't have the energy to train, feeling exhausted when he popped tiredly into Avengers HQ and fell onto the couch to wait for the others. He was falling asleep there when "Hey, Wic" was called happily from the doorway. He sat up slowly, trying not to wince, and smiled at Hulking.

"Hey, Hul." The happy, carefree smile on Hulking's face slipped away, shifting instantly to worry and anger.

"What happened?" He asked quickly, crossing the room in two strides and grabbing Billy's face, turning it on the side to examine the bruise there more carefully. Billy could see the dangerous side of Hulking like this – he looked livid, but his grip was soft on his cheek when he turned it.

"Nothing, nothing. Just, you know, got caught up." Billy said, trying to brush it off. Hulking's eyes narrowed.

"Really, cuz it looks like someone beat the shit out of you." Billy shrugged out of his grip.

"Yeah well, it doesn't matter."

"Wic," Hulking started, sounding concerned.

"Hul, leave it."

He did, pursing his lips unhappily. Billy shook off the others easily when they questioned him. Tommy gave him a sharp look, raising an eyebrow, and Billy decidedly didn't look at him the rest of the session. Billy was just about ready to pass out by the time they were done, his head pounding painfully against his skull and his aching intensified to real pain.

"You were pretty sloppy today Wiccan. Is something wrong?" The Captain had asked him quietly when they were done.

"Just tired." Billy said stiffly, suddenly on the verge of tears. Captain bloody AMERICA had noticed something was up. And he sounded disappointed. God. He just wanted to go home, to get out of here; he wanted to go to bed. And then, he blinked, and he was home. He didn't have time to think about the fact he hadn't said goodbye to anyone, that the Cap had opened his mouth to continue talking when he'd vanished, or that he was skipping the regular post training meal. He just collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep without even changing.


	2. Chapter 2

Billy got stares the next day, there was nothing strange about that. Rumours whipped up in the wind but he ignored the whispers that sprung to life when he entered a room or walked down the hall. He was beyond caring. He'd slept all night, without waking once, and he was STILL tired.

Most of the day passed in a haze and when the afternoon hit Billy just wanted to go home and sleep. But training wasn't on tonight and he knew that if he didn't get his homework done at school, he'd never get it done at all. So he dropped into his table in the corner of the library, pulled out books that felt too heavy to have ever been in his bag, and stared blankly at a page of writing. He wasn't focusing, he knew that. He knew that this whole endeavour was completely pointless.

His mind instead focused on the one fact that had been bothering him all day. Teddy.

Everyone had been staring, sure, but _Teddy_ had been staring. And not like the others, who looked away when he glared at them. Teddy just kept staring until Billy couldn't take it anymore and had to look away. And when Billy looked up from his book, he was there, standing awkwardly a few feet away, playing with his hands, still staring.

"What?" Billy snapped angrily at him, not caring his voice carried around the quiet room, "shocked at your friends work?" Teddy's eyes widened and Billy watched as something behind his eyes clicked. And then he looked pissed. He walked closer, eyes on the biggest bruise over Billy's cheek – it had blackened overnight, looking sickly and painful.

"Jacob did that?" He growled. Billy blinked. Why was Teddy angry at that? Why did he care at all?

"Yeah, real nice friend you got there." Billy said bitterly, trying unsuccessfully to look like he was focusing on his work once again. But he couldn't, not with Teddy so close, standing over him. He broke, shifting his books up quickly.

"Bil-" Teddy started as he moved to leave, but Billy cut him off, desperately spitting all his horribly negative thoughts at the boy.

"You know, you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. Maybe it's time you had a good hard look at your friends and see just who you're associating yourself with. Just cuz you don't actually shove me into the lockers doesn't mean you're not a bully. You just stand there and laugh. And I don't wanna spend another SECOND talking to you because, Theodore Altman, to me, you are a DICK."

Teddy stopped, looking at him with wide, hurt eyes, his mouth hanging open slightly in shock. Billy shoved past him, but only made it around the dark corner into the boy's bathroom. The school was deserted by this time and Billy let his bag drop, his hands clenching against the sink, his lips quivering and his shoulders shaking.

He was so sick of this. He was sick of being completely in love with someone he HATED. He wanted to punch Teddy in the face just as much as he wanted to kiss him. He lifted his head slightly and stared at the boy in the mirror. Bruised. Hurt. Lip pulled between teeth to hold back the gasps that so normally accompanied the tears that spilled down his cheeks. Pathetic.

"GAH!" His fist smashed into the mirror. But it didn't make him feel any better – it just make his hand hurt. His reflection was now a broken into a thousand little shards, cracked but still in the frame, a hundred distorted copies of himself staring back at him. He looked down at his knuckles. They were bleeding.

"Damn it." He muttered. Just another wound for the list then.

"Billy?" His head snapped up to the door and he just groaned.

"Why can you people leave me alone?" He begged. God damn it. Couldn't he have an emotional breakdown in PEACE?

Teddy looked from the mirror to Billy's hand before finally meeting Billy's eyes. He must have looked a treat, crying in the bathroom. He crossed the bathroom quickly, reaching for Billy's hand. He flinched away, but Teddy persisted, grabbing his wrist.

"Let me look." He murmured softly. Billy let Teddy lift his hand. He just… he just didn't care anymore. He was so _tired_.

"It's not too bad. You didn't break anything at least. It'll hurt though." Teddy informed him. Gee, really? I had no idea. Billy held back his sarcastic comments. Teddy waited for him to say something and when he didn't the blonde boy shook his head.

"God, Billy, I had no idea." He said regretfully. Billy blinked and his mind tried to work out what the hell he was talking about but it just died right then and there and he stared at the other boy with a blissfully blank expression.

"Come on, let's patch you up." Teddy said after another long silence, tugging on the hand he was still holding. Billy moved automatically, following Teddy out the door, not even noticing when the other boy paused to scoop Billy's bag onto his shoulder. He didn't ask questions when Teddy opened the door of his truck for him, pushing Billy into the seat. If something happened and Billy needed an out he could teleport away, consequences be damned.

The next time he spoke darkness had fallen around them and Teddy was pulling up in front of a house that Billy didn't recognize.

"Where are we?" He asked quietly. Teddy smiled.

"My place." Teddy jumped out of the car and was at Billy's door before he'd even gotten the seatbelt undone. He helped Billy out of the car, even though he really didn't need it, and walked frighteningly close as he directed Billy to the door.

"Ted," Billy said tiredly, making the other boy stop, "if you're gonna have me beaten can it at least be outside? I don't wanna get blood on the carpet." Billy could barely pay attention to the hurt and almost furious expressions that flashed across Teddy's face before he shook his head at Billy, carefully bemused.

"I'm not going to hurt you Billy. I'm trying to help." He took Billy's hand again and tugged once more and Billy followed without question. This could end badly, but, who cared anymore? Teddy pushed him into a stool in the kitchen and moved to find the first aid kit. He was back a second later, pulling a second stool close up next to Billy and pulling his hand over. Billy flinched when he began dabbing disinfectant on the wound.

"Ow." He frowned. Teddy laughed quietly to himself, but worked quickly, cleaning out the wounds and wrapping them in a clean bandage.

"Right, face." He said, looking into the box once more and indicating for Billy to lean forward with one finger.

"What?" Billy said, blinking in surprise. Teddy rose an eyebrow at him.

"Did you clean them at all yesterday?"

"I showered." Billy admitted grumpily. Teddy sighed and leaned in closer to look at them. He lifted his hand, a thumb grazing very lightly over the bruise on Billy's cheek. Billy stared as all his emotions snapped back into place with a fiery vengeance, suddenly hyper aware of Teddy's closeness, of his breath fanning against his face, the heat that radiated of his body.

"I'm sorry." Teddy muttered after a moment, looking away.

"For what?"

"For not protecting you. I could have said something. Made them stop picking on you before it got this bad." Billy shrugged. He wanted to say that it wasn't Teddy's fault; that he really couldn't have done anything; or that it was okay, he didn't mind – but the bitterness from earlier still lingered in his chest. He wasn't going to deny that it was true.

"I just never paid any attention. They'd call people names, push people over and I'd just look away and pretend I wasn't there. Half the time I didn't even know who they were doing it too. I just… zoned out. I hate them. I hate all of them. But I'm too weak to break away from them. I don't have anyone else to fall back on." He sounded almost desperate, like he was begging Billy to believe him. He looked up again, meeting Billy's eyes and they widened. He… was he crying?

"I'm meant to protect you; that's what partners DO. It shouldn't have mattered… I should have known… I'm meant to BE THERE." He made a frustrated sound, and then he laughed; a rancorous laugh. Billy stared at him like he'd gone a little insane. Maybe he had. He was just talking nonsense.

"You know, when I first saw these," he said, pulling his thumb back across Billy's cheek, his hand still plastered to Billy's face, "I wanted to _kill_ whoever put them there. But you told me to drop it, so I did. I figured you'd just, I dunno, messed up and a mugger had gotten too close. Then I saw you at school and I… it was me. I might not have actually delivered the punch, but it was _me._"

"Teddy, the only time I saw you yesterday _was_ at school." Teddy looked away again.

"No it's not."

"Ted-"

"Wic," he said softly, making Billy's head snap back and his eyes go wide, "stop it."


	3. Chapter 3

"I… how…?" Teddy chuckled before stepping away slightly. Billy blinked and Teddy had grown and thickened and turned green and –

"_Hulking?"_ Billy exclaimed, jumping from his seat in shock. No, no, no, no_ way_ his best friend was Teddy fucking Altman.

"Hey Wic." He said sheepishly, rubbing a hand behind his neck nervously.

"I… you… HOW?" Billy said, still incoherent.

"Your bruises. I recognized them and it all clicked. I always thought you looked familiar, but I just figured I'd seen you around school and that was all. I didn't think I was saving the world with you." He shrunk back to Teddy.

"I don't believe this." Billy said in shock. He'd lived all year in two separate worlds and they had just shattered together with unbelievable force.

"Believe it." Teddy said with a grin. Billy continued to stare at him with his mouth gaping. The door shuttered open behind them.

"Oh, Teddy, you have company?" Billy blinked, looking over Teddy's shoulder at the tired looking middle age woman there.

"Hey mom," Teddy said, turning and taking the bags out of her arms quickly, "yeah. This is Billy."

"Thank you. Hi, Billy?" She confirmed. Billy just nodded and tried to smile. She looked him up and down and then smirked in a bemused fashion. Teddy started unpacking the groceries on the bench behind him.

"Teddy," she called pointedly, "have you fed the cat?" Billy blinked when Teddy nearly dropped the can he was holding and turned bright red.

"Uh, no, I'll go, uh, do that." Teddy said, hurrying out of the room. Teddy's mother smiled at him then turned to Billy.

"Go help him." She said plainly and Billy was following Teddy in an instant with a quick 'yes, ma'am,' at the woman.

Billy found Teddy in what appeared to be the laundry, a cat curling around his ankles dangerously while he pulled out a box of cat food.

"No – Bill, stop it, you're gonna trip me, ha-" he stopped, picking up the kitten. Billy recognized it as the kitten they'd found shivering in the alleyway.

"If you want to get fed you'll stop trying to trip me over." He said to the kitten, grinning when it curled in his hands and head butt him under the chin, rubbing his tiny head against Teddy's face.

"He got big." Billy said quietly from the doorframe. Teddy tried not to look surprised by Billy's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, he did." Teddy said with a small smile. He held the cat out and Billy took him quickly while Teddy filled the cat bowl. The cat purred loudly and rubbed against him much in the same way it had rubbed against Teddy. Billy scratched his ear absentmindedly while Teddy went about his business.

"Okay, just put him down." Teddy said and Billy placed the cat on the ground almost reluctantly. It zoomed to the bowl, scoffing at the food.

"Slow down Bills, you'll give yourself a stomach ache." Teddy laughed, patting the cat. It arched in his pat, but continued eating at its normal speed. Billy blinked. The cat was called _Bills?_

"He always eats like that. It's like he thinks we're gonna take the food away." Teddy told Billy sadly. He nudged Billy a little and the shorter boy followed him from the room and up a set of stairs. Billy was rather surprised to find himself in Teddy's room. He sat himself carefully in the chair of Teddy's desk while the other boy fell onto the bed and closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a long sigh. Then his eyes opened and he turned his head to the side, looking across at Billy and smiling in a way that made his poor little witch heart flutter.

"You know, there IS space over here." Billy hesitated. If it had been Hulking asking him, and he was still just Wiccan, he knew that he'd already be on the bed next to him, probably ON him, using him as a pillow while his green friend laughed and patted his head and warned him that maybe he should sleep more before using his powers. But this was Teddy. He couldn't bring them together in his mind.

Then Teddy patted the bed invitingly and he was smiling the way the Teddy in Billy's mind always smiled and he looked amazing like that, lying on the bed, stretched so that his t-shirt road up just a little revealing a patch of skin that drew Billy's eyes like a magnet. So he stood and sat on the bed, kicking off his shoes so that he could pull his feet up under him.

"You're handling this rather well." Teddy commented, propping himself up on his elbow.

"What do you mean?"

"This whole 'secret identity' reveal thing." Billy snorted.

"You can't see what's happening in my head right now." Teddy chuckled.

"Nah, I can't. But you're not having a complete mental breakdown, which is nice."

"I think I'm limited to one of those a day. Try me again tomorrow." Billy laughed. Teddy laughed with him before sighing again.

"You're handling it well too you know. No breakdown from you yet." Billy added to keep the conversation flowing.

"Obviously you didn't see me this morning," he paused to laugh for a moment before continuing with a lopsided smile, "I was already trying to hunt you down but I couldn't find you anywhere. It was like you were hiding from me. Then I saw you leaving one of your classes and it just hit me like a freakin' wreaking ball. You were Wiccan. I missed the next two periods, hiding in the bathroom, trying to make everything fit together in my mind and trying to work out how to ask you and see if you really were Wiccan, even though I KNEW it was you. After that I, uh, well, I pretty much just stalked you all day." Billy looked down at his hands, fighting a grin. Teddy had been followed him around school. That pleased him much more than it should. His mind replayed what Teddy had said.

"Wait, you were looking for me before you knew I was Wiccan? Why?"

"Because you were right." Billy blinked and looked up. What?

"Right about what? You're not making any sense, you know that right?" Teddy laughed again.

"I suppose not. But I'm not being evasive or anything. I'm just… my brain doesn't quite connect to my mouth properly so everything comes out a little jumbled." Teddy sat up, shifting himself into a comfortable position so that they were facing each other.

"Just, give me a second; I'm gonna be a little more careful with my words this time." He shot Billy a very quick, short smile then his forehead crinkled in concentration, his bottom lip caught in a grip of teeth. Billy couldn't help but stare – was Teddy aware of the fact that he looked completely irresistible at his moment? That it took every ounce of Billy self-control not to reach over and smooth the crinkles from his forehead, to run a thumb over that bottom lip and chase away the bite marks? The room smelled so heavily of Teddy that Billy thought he was drowning in it, the other boy so close that he could feel the heat radiating off him.

And Billy _had_ been closer. Hulking had always been a fan of hugs. He'd been perfectly comfortable standing beside Billy, their arms touching or walking with an arm slung over Billy's shoulders. When Billy had crashed after battles, Hulking had always pulled him up to a bed in the tower and made sure he was comfortable before leaving. Sometimes he wouldn't leave at all – he'd just lay on the bed next to Billy, talking quietly until the younger boy slipped into sleep. Billy'd sometimes wake up with his head rested on Hulking's chest, and he hadn't minded one bit.

"Okay." Teddy said and Billy all but jumped in surprise – he'd almost been too busy rummaging around in his brain to remember that Teddy was playing puzzle with his own thoughts.

"Yesterday, when you were… talking, to Jacob, you said something. A-and it was true. I mean, you said it to him – but it was like you were talking to me. It was like one second, I'm off in my own world, ignoring all the idiots and thinking about Wiccan and our training and work and then BAM. I was sitting a table and you're talking and it's really hard not to pay attention when Billy freakin' Kaplan starts talking to you. And then you're calling me a hypocritical closet case and telling me to grow some balls because I was a simpering girl." Teddy shook his head ruefully as Billy's eyes widened.

"Te-" Teddy put up a hand to stop Billy from interrupting him, continuing effortlessly when the other boy was easily silenced. Teddy sucked in a deep breath.

"I couldn't stop thinking about it. It's real effecting, ya know, having someone you've admired for so long talk to you like that. I got home from school and I just waited I knew mom would be home before I went to training, she always is. And then, when she got home, I sat her down and I told her. And… it felt… good. Like I had this massive pressure on my chest constantly pushing down on me, crushing me, and then I_ told_ someone and it just went away. And not just anyone. I told my MOTHER. She could have reacted in any kind of way - but she didn't mind at all. She said she'd be happy if I was happy."

"I don't know if you've ever felt that way but I was… I was completely over the moon. It was like my entire view of the world just shifted. I'd told my mom. I'd admitted it to myself OUT LOUD. Like now I'd done that, I could do anything. I was set back when I got to training and I saw what had happened to you. I'd come to terms with the fact that I had a crush on Wiccan for a while now but I was just so sure you were straight, I mean, you practically flirted with Hawkeye and Stature. But when you were all beat up like that it _hurt_, ya know? That I couldn't DO anything or SAY anything or punch someone out because they'd dared do that."

"But then I went to bed and I stopped thinking about Wiccan, no offence bud, and started thinking about everything else. I mean, I'd had a crush on Wiccan for a while, he's my best friend and you can't help those sorts of feelings. But I'd been crushing on Billy Kaplan for _years. _Not in a creepy, stalker sort of way," Teddy said, suddenly looking panicked and rushing to reassure Billy, "but in a 'he's kinda nice looking' sorta way. I just… admired you is all. From a distance. Got proud when you won all those awards for being the freaky little dork that you are. Got annoyed when people picked on you and I wasn't being such a dumb prick that I couldn't see it. I saw you get shoved into the lockers once, actually paid attention and I really wanted to help you up, to tell everyone to fuck off and leave you alone. But I wasn't _brave_ enough then. Cory got a mouthful later, when I thought it had been long enough that people wouldn't put two and two together."

He paused and frowned again while Billy sat, completely unmoving, and stared with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. Teddy seemed completely unaware of the fact that he was currently _blowing Billy's mind_ into a thousand smithereens.

"I guess… I guess, long story short, I'm gay Billy, and I like you." He let out a long breath and then smiled. Billy continued to stare at him in the same, disbelieving expression. Teddy let his face fall after a minute of silence.

"C-could you say something? Please?" He begged.

"You. Like. Me?" Billy said slowly and brokenly, like an old slow computer, trying desperately to process. Teddy chuckled.

"Yeah, I really do."

"And you're gay."

"I am."

"But… how?"

"Um… excuse me?"

"How, how are you gay? You've had girlfriends. Girls are falling at your feet all the time! And me? Why me? I mean, you could have anyone you wanted, someone good-looking and perfect and sporty like you and you're way out of my league! I'm just so nerdy and little and pathetic and I mean, you didn't even know I was Wiccan-" Billy froze.

"Oh god I'm an idiot." He moaned, his head falling into his hands.

"I… I don't understand."

"This is because of the Wiccan thing. You're just having a bad reaction. I… I get it, I really do. I mean. You're not yourself right know, you said your brain is all muddled up and you're confused about things, but YOU don't like ME, you're probably not even really gay, it's Wi-"

Billy was cut off because suddenly Teddy was very, _very_ close, a hand resting lightly over Billy's bruised cheek, so close that Billy could almost _taste_ him, Teddy's vibrant green eyes locking with Billy's chocolate brown ones. He looked at Billy very seriously, his voice calm and steady and perfectly thought out.

"I, Theodore Altman, am gay and I am completely head over heels for you, William Kaplan. And I need to know, right now, if you like me at all in the same way, even a little bit, because I'm feeling very melodramatic tonight and I'm gonna say my life _depends_ on your response."

"I like you," Billy blurted automatically; "I like you more than I should and I've liked you for way too long."

"Good." Teddy breathed. There was something about the way he said that word, long and lingering, with his breath cascading warmth at Billy's own lips that made Billy break a little inside. He closed the practically non-existent gap between them, pressing softly closed lips against Teddy's. A small part of Billy's mind still expected Teddy to shove Billy away, to say it was all a joke, that he'd taken it too far.

But Teddy pushed back into the kiss, leaning into him, the hand from Billy's cheek having curled around into Billy's hair, the other gripping his shoulder tightly to help him stay upright. He was balanced rather awkwardly on the bed from when he'd leaned forward. Billy's hands moved on their own accord, one pushing on Teddy's shoulder, the other pulling at his hip. The effect was immediate, forcing Teddy to roll onto his back – he made a keening noise in the back of his throat when Billy forced their lips apart for the move, the sound sending heat rushing up and down Billy's body. He followed him Teddy quickly, but the other boy didn't deem it fast enough, grabbing at Billy's shoulders and pulling him down into another kiss.

It was Teddy who ran his tongue across Billy's lower lip, asking for permission and then pressing forward eagerly when he received it. After that it was pretty difficult to tell who was doing what. It was all heat and instinct and wet and touching and rolling and tongues mingled with groans and gasps and breathy calls of the other's name.

Billy couldn't believe it. He was _kissing _Teddy Altman. And even better than that Teddy Altman was kissing HIM. If Billy was being honest, he tested Teddy once or twice, pulled away just to see if the other boy would follow. He did. He always did, normally catching Billy with double the ferocity he'd had when Billy pulled back. His mind didn't quite comprehend what was happening. But it was. He was laying there, wrapped in Teddy, smothered by him, pinned between him and the mattress, hands free to roam and feel and the little gasps and moans and 'Billy…'s escaping Teddy's mouth making the situation unquestionably real.

They froze, however, going perfectly still, when the door knocked.

"Yeah? Teddy called, only slightly breathlessly. Billy had to give him points for that. Teddy didn't sound at all like he was currently pinning another boy to the bed. Teddy pushed himself up and grinning down at Billy, unashamedly tracing the trapped boy with his eyes. His brown eyes were half lidded, pupils blown, his cheeks flushed where they weren't bruised and his lips swollen and red and damp from heavy kisses, his hair stuck up at random angles from where Teddy had gripped it. Teddy though he'd never looked so good – only the bruises and cuts spoiled an otherwise perfect appearance.

"I'm just wondering if Billy is staying for dinner." Teddy's mom called through the door. Teddy glanced at the clock, surprised by the time, then back at his prize. He gave Billy a questioning look and the boy shrugged, or tried to shrug – Teddy had demanded Billy keep his hands still for five minutes and when he'd failed Teddy had held his wrists together in one hand above his head. His other hand was currently resting on the centre of Billy's chest. He could feel Billy's heart beating, strong and fast, under that grip.

"Yeah, he'll stay." Teddy grinned down at Billy. Billy pulled a face at him and in retaliation Teddy rolled his hips once. Billy bit his lip to hide a groan from Teddy's mother, aching his back slightly and tilting his head back. Teddy was distracted, then, as the motion exposed more of the area which was currently Teddy's target – for the past few minutes he'd been working ferociously on nipping, sucking and licking a patch of Billy's neck into a fantastic hickey while the boy squirmed and moaned Teddy's name like it was the only word he knew. He wanted to be able to see it from across the room tomorrow at school. He wanted everyone to stare and whisper and KNOW. Billy Kaplan was taken.

**(THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY THERE IS MORE TO COME, JUST FYI)**


	4. Chapter 4

When Billy woke the next morning he was convinced that it had all been a dream. A beautiful, wonderful, completely amazing dream that he would give anything to have be his reality. But then he got up out of bed and wandered into the bathroom so that he could shower and caught sight of his reflection and any part of his mind that doubted last night's events quietly imploded. The bruises on his face were clearing up nicely and he'd give anything to forget he had them. The bruise on his neck, however… well, that memory was burned onto his brain. He doubted he'd ever forget it, even if at some point he desperately wanted too. He doubted he'd ever desperately want to forget it. The only problem was it was a _hickey_. And his mother was a _psychiatrist_. God. When she saw this…

He showered as quickly as possible but was confronted with a real problem when went to change. He wanted to cover the mark up to avoid his mother's questions and looks and lectures, but at the same time he wanted to be able to show it off and flaunt it too the whole world. He imagined the look on Jacob's face when Billy walked by, obviously marked by a partner, and almost wanted to laugh. Then he imagined what Jacob's face would be if he walked by with _Teddy_.

But then his mind faltered.

What did last night mean? He didn't know anything about Teddy's life outside of school and outside of Hulking. For all Billy knew he was just another notch on Teddy's bed post – not that they'd even gone that far. After Teddy's mother interrupted them they'd returned to girlishly giggling and grinning into each other's lips. Billy had tried his hardest to leave his own impression on Teddy – but his healing factor would keep Billy's own hickey from lasting very long. It had already started healing when they headed downstairs for dinner.

Teddy had driven Billy home. That could mean something – he knew that Billy just had to think hard enough and he'd be flashed home, safe in his room. But instead of doing that he'd driven Billy all the way home and even walked him to the door. Billy had stolen another kiss just before he slipped inside, one which Teddy had been all too willing to give. So… that was a good sign. Right?

Billy didn't realize he'd been standing in front of the mirror in nothing but a towel for such a long time, but soon his mother was knocking on the door. She opened it without waiting for a response.

"Billy, your friend is here." She said. Billy looked at the door curiously as Teddy slipped inside with a grin and a 'Hey B.' But then Teddy froze, his eyes going very wide and a faint red blush spreading over his cheeks. Billy resisted the urge to grin, knowing that he'd gotten Teddy to blush like that more than once last night and now he was just wondering _why _Teddy was blushing like th-

Oh my god he was standing there in nothing but a towel.

"MOM!" Billy cried in a shocked voice, bolting back into the bathroom. Oh god that had been a horrible plan. His CLOTHING was in the bedroom. With Teddy. Who'd just seen him practically naked. Oh god.

"Sorry, I thought you'd be dressed by now! You really need to get up earlier Billy, before you develop organizational issues. I'm sorry Teddy; you're welcome to wait here until Billy decides to be a functioning member of society and bet ready on time."

"Thank you Ms. Kaplan."

"No problem dear." Billy heard his bedroom door shut and barely a second after the click Teddy was laughing.

"Aw, B, I gotta say, I was hoping to get a kiss or something in greeting but this? This was much better."

"Shut up!" Billy squeaked. He still hadn't solved the whole 'clothing' problem and his mind just wasn't working fast enough to sort something out for him. It was too busy listening to every movement inside his room – he heard the thump of Teddy dropping his bag and the squeak of the bed frame as he sat on the bed. Really, there was only one solution for this problem that didn't result in him being thoroughly embarrassed.

"_-"_ Jeans, boxers and a t-shirt appeared on his bathroom counter in a soft glow of blue. Oh thank god. SOMETHING in his favour; he heard Teddy laugh lightly and realized he must have seen the clothing leave the room. He pushed the clothing on as quickly as he could before exiting into the bedroom. Teddy looked up from the bed – he wasn't sitting on it, like Billy suspected he might have been, but rather laying across it. Billy felt the grin tug at his lips before he thought about actually putting one there. It didn't matter how corny it sounded in Billy's head, Teddy looked like he _belonged_ on that bed.

But then Teddy was looking at him and laughing and he felt the grin slip away. What? Had he done something? Is this where the joke came in?

"Come here, silly." Teddy said with a roll of his eyes, launching off the bed quickly and tugging at Billy's shirt.

"Hey, wh- ow!" Teddy paused and peaked at him from where the shirt was currently stuck on his head, caught on an angle on his ear. Billy glared accusingly.

"I-it's inside out!" Teddy squeaked in explanation, "I wasn't putting on a move, I swear, I was just trying to he-" Billy rolled his eyes and in a single quick movement, pulled the shirt off his head and closed the gap between himself and Teddy, pressing tentative lips against the taller boy's and thanking every god he could think of that he'd brushed his teeth in the shower.

"Morning." Billy said quietly when he pulled away.

"I could get used to that." Teddy murmured, his eyes opening slowly. Billy smirked and went about fixing his shirt.

"I certainly hope so, cuz I plan on doing it. A lot." Teddy pulled him by the waist of his jeans until they were pressed together.

"I look forward to it." Teddy said with a playful grin, laughing around Billy's lips as the smaller boy made a content little humming noise, his hand on Billy's neck as a thumb traced over the mark he'd made. He wondered if Billy knew how much Teddy liked it being there, or how much Teddy loved being able to hold Billy close like this. He probably didn't. But that didn't matter. As far as Teddy was concerned, he had as long as he wanted to prove it.

Billy was thankful for Teddy's presence in more ways than one. When the two of them had finally stumbled into the kitchen – Billy's parents wouldn't let him leave the house if he hadn't at least eaten something – Billy's mother had merely glanced at the mark on Billy's neck and gone about her morning without comment. He was CERTAIN that she would have sat him down to talk about it if Teddy hadn't been there, politely declining Ms. Kaplan's offers of breakfast.

In fact everything went rather smoothly that morning. Teddy slotted into the morning routine so neatly that it was like he'd been there forever. He'd helped Ms. Kaplan chase down Billy's little brothers and made sure they ate something while Billy's mother packed their bags. Billy watched the whole affair with a bemused expression, his heart tugging at the sight of Teddy warning his little brothers that if they didn't eat their breakfast they'd never get big and strong like him – of course then he'd lifted the table with one hand while Ms. Kaplan wasn't looking, drawing gasps of surprise and eager questions from the young boys.

It wasn't until he was sitting in Teddy's truck, being driven to school, that he felt the panic closing in. He still didn't know what any of this meant! Were they… together now? A couple? Was Teddy his boyfriend? Could he call him that? How were they meant to act around other people?

Suddenly his stomach caught and sunk. What if Teddy didn't _want_ to be seen by other people? What if he wanted to keep their relationship locked away in the dark? Billy's stomach twisted again. What if they didn't have a relationship at all? What if all of this was just… Teddy, being friendly? He knew that Billy was Wiccan now. He could just be keeping his team-mate close.

Damn it Kaplan!

"B? You okay? You look a little sick." Billy started and looked over to where Teddy was shooting him concerned glances while trying to watch the road.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." He said, hoping the smile on his face looked relieved. Teddy didn't look convinced. He reached over and caught Billy's hand and put it on the gear shift, threading his own fingers over the top. It wasn't exactly comfortable for either of them, but it made Billy grin when Teddy applied a small amount of pressure and pushed the gear stick upwards or downwards or ran a thumb over the fingers of Billy's it could reach.

The car park was packed when they arrived, minutes from the first bell, students crawled across the campus. They were forced to pack in the back corner of the lot and then they had to run to make their classes in time. They're rush didn't stop Teddy from grabbing him in the middle of the hallway when they had to go in separate directions, pushing a kiss onto Billy's lips without a single care of who might be watching and leaving Billy in a daze as he tossed 'SEE YOU AT LUNCH' over his shoulder, bolting around the corner to his morning English.

Billy had been late for maths.

Really, was it any surprise that the whispers had started from the very first second he'd slid into his chair, muttering an apology to his teacher? It was the girls who sat directly behind him who giggled and whispered and thought that he couldn't hear.

"Look at that! Tell me that _that_ is not a hickey!"

"That's not a small one either, someone_ really_ went at it."

"I thought Billy was gay?"

"He _is_ gay. What does being gay have to do with getting a hickey?"

"I dunno. It's just weird. So he has a boyfriend?"

"Oh my god, I bet he _does_. Sarah, he could go to our school!" They collapsed into giggles then, listing all of the boys they thought could possibly be gay, and if they would be a good match for Billy. It was quite entertaining actually, listening in. But they didn't say Teddy – he was miles from their list. Billy didn't know whether to feel relieved or not.

When maths was finished there was a two minute walk too his history class. By the time he sat down there, he was getting open stares and the whispers weren't so quiet.

"Are you sure?"

"Mark, Britta SAW it. They were running down the hall and then Teddy GRABBED him and they were TOTALLY making out!"

"No way, Teddy isn't gay."

"Then why is he kissing guys?"

"He probably wasn't. Even if he WAS gay he wouldn't be kissing _Billy Kaplan_. The kids a nerd! Kaplan probably jumped Teddy. Apparently he cracked onto Jacob the other day."

"No!"

"Yeah, why do you think Jacob let him have it?"

And that's how it started. By the time he left history he was getting daggers and by the time he left English the next period the entire school was convinced he'd practically attacked Teddy in the hallway because he was a mentally unstable gay perve. Never mind the hickey. He probably found a way to give it to himself, the freak.

Billy tried to keep his head down and not make eye contact with anyone. He'd had this before, the glares, the open mouthed stares, the cat-calls and the shoving in the halls. But this was worse than before. He could put up with it when they were all lies; this wasn't lies. He HAD kissed Teddy in the hall. Maybe that's why it was worse. They could sense the guilt radiating off him.

Of course, what he wasn't expecting was an altercation in the hall. Normally, if anyone planned to beat him up, they'd wait until after school when they could get him safely away from the eagle eyes of the teachers. He was on his way to lunch, miserably considering ducking out on meeting Teddy if just to avoid the trouble of more whispers and ferocious glares when he was shoved particularly violently against the lockers. He stumbled and stood and found himself trapped. Normally his attackers kept walking to avoid getting caught, but these three had surrounded him and left him pressed against the metal.

"So what, you thought you could just jump Teddy in the hall and get away with it, freak?" The boy directly in front of him spat – Billy didn't even know his _name_. His eyes widened but he couldn't think of a reply that didn't sound like a pathetic excuse. People were slowing behind them, trying to watch what was happening and clogging the hallway.

And then the boy's hand was curling up and a fist was in Billy's face, his head snapping back into the lockers behind him, blood spurting dramatically from his nose. Billy's eyes immediately began to water, but that didn't stop him from being able to see the boy's hand drawing backwards for another hit.

"HEY!" the voice rang out over the hall and Billy made a funny squeaking noise as his attacker was pulled away and he closed his eyes, holding his nose.

"What the FUCK, do you think you're doing Andrew? Get off him!"

"Teddy, man, look, calm down, we're just covering your back!"

"Cover my- what the fuck, are you talking about?"

"That sick freak jumped you in the hall! We're just giving the fag what he deserves!" Billy's eyes snapped open at the sound of something heavy hitting metal and realized that Teddy had punched Andrew into the lockers across the hall, bystanders forming a thick circle of silence.

"THAT'S MY BOYFRIEND YOU DICK!" Teddy roared and Andrew stumbled to his feet, gapping at Teddy. But he wasn't looking at Andrew anymore – he was already next to Billy, gingerly lifting his chin.

"Come on, let's get you some ice." Teddy murmured quietly, his voice shaking. Billy nodded, afraid to speak encase he said something wrong.

"Ted," Andrew said, "we didn't know."

"No you didn't," Teddy spat venomously; "you just attacked him because you _thought_ he was gay. You wanna attack someone who's gay? I'm right here Andrew and you KNOW I won't think twice about breaking your fucking nose."

"I won-"

"Get out of our way." Teddy growled, wrapping an arm around Billy's waist and moving down the hall. The crowd parted to make a pathway for them, pressing into each other and looking away when Teddy glared at them, as if they thought eye contact would leave them bleeding. Teddy didn't say anything until they hit the nurses office, but he was shaking with anger.

"Deddy?" Billy asked quietly, his noise blocked by his hand. Teddy let out a long breath before looking at Billy. His hand was clamped over a pale face and Teddy could see red squeezing from between his fingers. His eyes were wide and he looked a little… scared. Was Billy scared of _him?_

"I'm sorry," Teddy muttered, meeting Billy's eyes; he realized then that they needed to talk about this. They should have talked about it last night, but Teddy had been too caught up in just having _Billy_. "come on. Ice. Then we'll ta-"

Teddy was across the hall then, having been shoved away by someone that _wasn't_ Billy. He blinked in surprise.

"You," Tommy growled, standing defensively in front of Billy, who peeked over Tommy's shoulder with a confused expression, "are gonna pay for hurting my brother, you slimy little prick."


	5. Chapter 5

"I didn't touch him! Oh, well," Teddy turned a funny red shade that was _really_ inappropriate for the moment, "I didn't _hurt_ him."

"You think this is funny? Nobody messes with my brother – except ME!"

"Tom-"

"I knew you'd do something like this, I could SEE you looking at Billy and I thought , nah, I won't do anything, Billy can handle himself but APPARENTLY my brother is massive wimp because then he got all those bruises and he didn't want to talk about it and I KNEW it was you. Well guess what buddy, you won't be up against just me and Billy next time, cuz we got friends, one of which will hunt you down and rip you limb from limb with his bare hands and TRUST me when I say he can do it and is already planning on it." Teddy made a funny stuttering noise and Billy felt that maybe now was a good time to step in.

"No, Dommy," Billy said quickly, grabbing his shoulder, "Deddy didn'd hid me."

"You sound like an idiot Billy, now go stand over there and be a good damsel in distress while I take care of this, will ya?"

"He's my _boyfriend_ Tommy; I was trying to _stop_ the fight." Teddy said slowly. Tommy stopped, going very still, a sight that was extremely odd to Billy, who'd never seen Tommy not moving.

"You… what?" He flipped back around to face Billy.

"Is this true?" He shot at Billy who just nodded his head. Tommy's shoulders sagged for a second then squared right up again.

"You're a fucking idiot William Kaplan." Tommy shot angrily before storming away without so much as a backwards glance at his bleeding brother, vanishing down the halls.

"You know, it just clicked in my head. You're Wiccan," he said pointing at Billy, "he's Speed," he said, pointing down the hall to where Tommy had disappeared. Billy nodded again. Teddy seemed to notice his reluctance to talk.

"Right. Nurses office. In."

If things were going to get bad, Billy knew it would happen now. He knew it would happen because everything had gone so well for him over the past couple of weeks. First and foremost, he now had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who at this current moment was laying on his bed, his head tipped over the edge, squinting at the comic in Billy's hands and trying to read the front page of it upside down, his face turning red as blood pooled in his cheeks from lying in such a state. A boyfriend whom his _parents_ knew about – although the way they'd found out still left Billy a little dazed.

He'd knocked on their door lightly and asked if Teddy could stay the night because it was late, and raining, and Teddy was exhausted and Billy didn't want him driving the truck home like that. His parents had just exchanged significant looks and his mother had said

"I know you're getting older Billy and it's natural to expect you'd want your boyfriend to stay the night. But I think that now this is happening, it is time we had a talk."

Billy then proceeded to sit on the end of his parent's bed and be mortified by everything they said until he left the room bright red and wide eyed and to the laughter of Teddy who'd been listening with his super hearing from the other room. He'd never come out to his parents. They just _knew_. He wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not.

Having Teddy Altman as your boyfriend came with certain perks; perks that Billy really hadn't ever thought about coming along as perks. Teddy drove across town to pick him up every morning, even though Billy blushed and stammered and told him he could take the bus. Some morning's Teddy would turn up, still mostly asleep, his shirt on backwards and his hair mused and far too early to be taking Billy anywhere, silently climbing through the house to which he now had a key and crawling into Billy's bed for the hour til Billy's alarm went off. Teddy dropped him home as well, on the nights when Billy didn't go back to Teddy's house and enviably crash there, exhausted after training. Teddy would stay for dinner with the Kaplan's on these nights and on more than one occasion Billy had drifted off to sleep in the arms of a hulking blonde instead of just waking up in them.

Training was going blissfully well as well. The attacks on New York had either been so small they were hardly worth the effort of stopping or so large that the Avengers had stepped in to assist them and had therefore effectively taken over. Billy wasn't complaining about the light nature of life threatening attacks, or about the fact that for the past few weeks he'd been able to maintain a routine, without skipping school or sleep.

At school he was suddenly untouchable. Sure, kids had backed off when they found out about Tommy but they never really _stoped._ With Teddy? Billy was pretty sure he could have asked Jacob Burnley himself to hand over his lunch money and Jacob would have given it to him without hesitation. Not that Billy would ever do that. Teddy Altman was the closest thing their school had to royalty and he'd made it pretty clear that anyone who messed with Billy messed with him – so nobody dared do ANYTHING to Billy.

At first Teddy had made a point to sit with Billy at lunch, outside under the tree were Billy normally sat, an arm hanging loosely around Billy's shoulders as Billy leaned against him, reading. Teddy would read along sometimes, but for the most part Billy was under the distinct indication that Teddy used their lunch hour to nap with his cheek pressed to the top of Billy's head. Actually, distinct indication was the wrong phrasing, considering the fact that Billy had discovered this habit when Teddy drooled on him one day.

Billy felt pretty guilty that Teddy had more or less dropped everyone to be with him, something which he voiced on several occasions, but Teddy had simply fixed him with a stern look and said 'they were dicks B. I'd rather be with you. Now shut up, all this talking makes it really hard to fall asleep.' Billy's guilt was sated soon enough though –Teddy had a very large social group. Soon enough kids came and joined them at the tree, introducing themselves to Billy and chatting with them, sometimes staying the full hour of lunch and sometimes popping by just to say hi.

Tensions between Teddy and the football team eased in a very simple manner. Teddy and Billy had been at their tree, two girls lounging on the grass nearby, chatting happily about the up-coming summer break, when a small group of the team came over. They sat on the grass nearby with a simple 'sup guys,' and joined in the conversation easily. Billy said something he hadn't completely intended to be funny, just something dryly sarcastic, and they laughed. They'd laughed _with_ him.

"You're not so bad, kid." One of them had said with a sharp grin.

"Course he ain't. That's why he's mine." Teddy had said with a grin, which he'd stuffed into the back of Billy's quickly reddening neck, resulting in catcalls from the boys about 'getting a room' and girlish 'aww!'s from the from the ladies.

"Come on, I really don't need to see this all over campus." Tommy said as he approached, grinning foolishly at them. He only ate with them occasionally, when he was 'too tired to duck over to Italy for some real Italian food.'

For the first few days of their relationship it seemed like Tommy had been on the war path. He hated Teddy, he hated Billy, he hated them being together and he wasn't exactly quiet about this problem. It wasn't until Billy had grabbed him after training one day and forced him to talk.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Billy had said, pulling him away from the group after he'd shot Billy a particularly nasty comment.

"What's wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Billy had been completely thrown by this.

"Tommy, I have no idea what your problem is or what it's got to do with Ted-"

"Really Billy? Really? OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES! Hulking has been HEAD OVER HEELS for you since we started this stupid arrangement, you little dweeb! I mean, he's always been ten times nicer than that fuck head Teddy Altman's ever been too you. I know he isn't the best lookin' kid on the block but I never took you for _shallow_. Do you have ANY idea how furious he was when he saw you beat up? And what's worse is you keep making fucking flirty eyes at him and getting his hopes up!"

Billy had been shocked for two reasons. One, because this conversation made no sense when Billy knew that Hulking and Teddy were the same person and, two, because Tommy was _caring. _ He had _thought_ about Hulking, _considered_ his feelings and then gotten _mad_ about it! He was showing a level of emotional connection to a single person that Billy, up till two second ago, was almost positive Tommy wasn't capable of doing.

And worse still Billy had no idea how to rectify the situation without revealing Teddy's secret identity to Tommy, and Billy wasn't sure if Teddy wanted to do that.

He'd told all of this to Teddy that night, half asleep and groaning self-pity into Teddy's chest while the blonde laughed and rubbed his back until he fell asleep. Billy had jolted to wake a few hours later to Teddy tripping over Billy's school bag as he re-entered the room.

"Wazhappening, whos attacking?" Billy had muttered, still mostly asleep, already trying to get out of bed but finding himself trapped by the sheets.

"Nothing, B, I just to do something – go back to sleep." Teddy pulled off the hoodie he'd slipped on over his sleeping shirt, wriggled out of his jeans and crawled back into bed. Billy had clammed up onto him like an octopus, wrapping tight arms and legs around him and nestling his head in the crook of Teddy's neck.

"Where'd you go?" Billy yawned into Teddy's collarbone, but he emitted a short snore before Teddy could reply, already asleep.

Tommy had sat with them for lunch the next day.

But none of this mattered. Because if things were going to get bad, he _knew _it would happen now.

"B, you're staring." Teddy said with a sly grin, rolling over on the bed so that he was sitting normally. Billy blinked a few times and let the stupid goofish grin he now so often found on his face settle into place.

"Can't help it," he said with a grin. Teddy stretched out on the bed in an alluring manner.

"Then don't." He said playfully, lifting a hand and indicating with one finger. Billy let the comic slip through his fingers and tumble to the floor as he took the single step from the chair in his room to the bed. He leaned down over Teddy but hovered there, grinning and admiring the way Teddy's hands moved automatically to Teddy's hips and rested there comfortably.

"Hi." Billy murmured, staring down at the blonde boy who smirked up at him, eyes sparkling. Billy really couldn't believe it. That this perfect creature laying beneath him, who was currently attempting to sneak his hands up under Billy's shirt, was _his._ He knew most of, if not all, of Billy's secrets and he'd learned them all in a very short time – but that was okay. Because Billy had learned his.

Billy knew that Teddy sang 80's music in the shower. Loudly.

Teddy knew that Billy talked in his sleep, and had held long conversations with the boy in his sleeping state.

Billy knew that Teddy such a Spiderman fan boy that when he finally met him in the Hallway once in the tower, the best he could manage was a wide-eyed stutter.

Teddy knew that Billy couldn't make eye contact with Captain America for nearly two weeks because he'd had a particularly vivid dream of the man that involved him holding his shield and _nothing else._

Billy knew that the fastest way to end an argument with Teddy was to nip at the tiny patch of skin behind his ear.

And, even though they weren't arguing at this moment, Billy leaned in and pressed his lips against Teddy's throat and travelled upwards slowly, drawing it out, listening to Teddy's little hitches of breath, relishing in the way he let his eyes sink closed and turned his head so that Billy had a wider access to his neck.

His lips hit that spot, kissing it lightly and Teddy's hands tightened on Billy's hips and he let out a breathy moan. Billy grinned and let his teeth scratch over his skin.

"Billy…" Teddy gasped, one hand moving quickly to wrap into Billy's hair and pull him into a desperate kiss. Billy didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was the sense of impending doom. But he was feeling _brave_ today. He wasn't going to cut this session off or let Teddy pull away with laughs and gasps for air. When Teddy brought their mouths together, Billy's tongue found his own, drawing it in and sucking on it lightly. Teddy made a deep groaning sound in the very back of his throat and pulled Billy closer.

Billy's bravery continued and he shifted his weight to once side. His hand ran down Teddy's side. Nothing new there. It ran over his hipbone. Not un-heard of. But then it rested, obvious and undeniable, on Teddy's crotch. Then, just in case by some horrible reason Teddy wasn't already hyperaware of its location, he palmed upwards.

"Billy?" Teddy gulped, pulling away and staring up at him. Billy stared back with heavy half lids, his pupils blown and his lips glistening and red.

"Yes?" Billy gave another meaningful upwards squeeze and Teddy whimpered. He _actually_ whimpered, a desperate and longing sound that he combined with suddenly wide eyes and desperate linking of Billy's lips to his own. Teddy rolled, pressing against him, a hand pulling Billy up a little and then pressing down and his hips rolled against Billy's and the noise that came out of Billy's mouth didn't even sound human.

They continued like this for a while, all kisses and touches and desperate grabbing and whispers. It was heaven and hell, because Billy's jeans were now painfully tight, but with every roll from Teddy that he pushed up into he was desperate, begging with hoarse whispers – the problem was he has no idea _what_ he was begging _for_. He just wanted this, whatever it was, to continue, preferably without his jeans. Teddy pulled back and Billy whined, trying to follow, but Teddy put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back. Then he leaned in, his breath rugged on Billy's ear.

"Tell me what you want B." He said, his lips scraping the skin before he leaned back, staring down expectantly.

"I-I want… I… ;" Billy paused. What did he want?

"Come Billy. Tell me." Teddy begged, like he needed to hear it. Billy stared up into Teddy's green eyes and the answer was so obvious he wanted to smack himself over the back of his head. He wanted Teddy.

"You," he breathed, his hands slipping lower once more, "_all_ of you." Teddy's breath caught and he leaned in to kiss Billy again. This kiss felt different. It was deliberately slow, soft – it was meant to _last,_ pulling on the last fabric of Billy's being. And then Teddy's lips were gone, before pressing on his chin; his neck; his chest, pulling lower and lower still, Teddy pushing Billy's shirt up under his chin so that his lips met flushed skin, each little kiss sending hot trails of fire burning in Billy's stomach.

Billy couldn't believe it, that this was happening, that what he thought was going to happen _was_ going to happen, that Teddy's hands had raced ahead of his lips and were fumbling with the sliver button of Billy's jeans, trying to undo them without looking, because looking meant he'd have to stop kissing and Teddy just wasn't ready to do that.

Teddy's lips were on Billy's hipbone, having tugged the pants down just enough to expose this new, sensitive area then they both froze. From the table, their Avengers comms, so thoughtfully provided by Patriot in case of crisis, started buzzing and ringing for their attention. They only use the comms if it's serious superhero-ing time, not just some dealers or muggers. Teddy looked up at Billy, his lips still pressed against the skin of Billy's hip bone, his eyes begging. Billy groaned heavily and he had to close his eyes for a moment to calm down before reaching for the comms, which had since stopped ringing and then started again.

"What?" Billy asked, trying not to sound to snappy – Teddy had pulled away from his skin and was sitting up. Billy shuffled up as well while Patriot barked a location at him and yelled 'HURRY. GET HULKING."

Then he was gone and Billy was left staring at the phone.

"News?"

"_Something_ is going down in Central Park. We better move." Billy fought to keep the bitter disappointment form his voice. Then he was moving to get up, each movement frightfully painful inside his tight pants, when Teddy caught him and kissed him forcefully.

"We'll finish this later." He ordered. And then Billy grinned.

Things were getting bad; he had _known _it would happen now. But hey – that didn't mean things couldn't get better, later.


	6. Chapter 6

Billy knew that if they'd just been Billy and Teddy, he probably would have hated their relationship. No, no… hate was the wrong word. Resented. What he would have hated was being the 'weak' one, the one that always needed saving from the bullies and his tormentors. He would have loved Teddy for always being there to help him. But he would have hated needing that help.

But they weren't just Billy and Teddy. They were Wiccan and Hulking. He _wasn't_ weak. He _chose_ to let the bullies think they were winning.

No.

_This_ was his element.

Here he was indestructible. He was _powerful._ It was when he was out here, in battle, fighting that he felt _truly_ at home. He could feel the untapped pool of his power below a fragile surface, the pool that made the Cap and Iron Man exchange significant looks and mutter when they thought he wasn't listening. He would never access this, he knew that. It was too risky for one person to be _that_ powerful. But he could siphon enough of it to make the Avengers shake in their righteous, 'you're-too-young' boots and that was enough for him.

Out here he was offensive and defensive, playing the shield when he flew overhead and ducking into the fry whenever he thought he could help.

"Ten points!" Billy cried dancing away from the doombot as it swayed and crashed heavily on the cement.

He pushed forward. Really, Doom had to update these things. Duck, duck, lightning to the chest plate. Down. These fight sequences were getting so old, it was like being confronted with another training program.

Really, it was too simple. Billy could let his mind wander, which is never something Billy should be allowed to do, in battle or not. He ducked, shot and moved but it was all automatic. His mind was back to half hour earlier, when he was alone with Teddy, lips scalding on his skin…

… and the more he thought about it the more HORRIFIED he was.

He'd only been dating Teddy for what? A month? Was that supposed to happen?

He was pretty sure normal couples didn't sleep together after a month. Well, he'd already slept with Teddy but they'd actually SLEPT. He was pretty sure that normal couples didn't HAVE SEX after just one month.

And… he was pretty sure that they weren't just about to have sex, but you know, something kinda like sex. No, no, no, no even BILLY knew they weren't ready for that yet. Well, he wasn't ready. But they were gonna do 'sexy stuff'.

Was that NORMAL?

What if he was rushing things? What would Teddy think if he was rushing things?

He had nothing to gage this against. Teddy was his first everything. Teddy was his first kiss and at the time, he hadn't even been able to recognize that Teddy was his first kiss. It was too familiar, even though it was achingly different; he had played out the same actions in his head a thousand times before it actually happened.

W-was that what was happening?

He'd been mentally dating Teddy for over a year. These actions, the extended kisses, the wandering hands, and the way he always seemed to have Teddy by his side like they were suddenly inseparable – they were all thing he'd ALREADY done.

In his head.

It seemed so _natural_ to be doing them.

But it had only been a month!

Was his mental relationship spilling over into his real one?

There was a stinging in his arm and he jumped back, before sending another lightening blot crashing into a new doombot. Okay so maybe he should pay just a little more attention to what was going on around him. He made a quick count of what he had taken out while distracted.

"Forty!"

"I'm on seventy; you need to keep up Wic!" Teddy laughed, morphing through and sending a now clawed and sharp fist through a chest plate and ripping the wiring beyond repair.

"This isn't a game!" Patriot scolded, catching a heavy hit on his shield and packing a particularly powerful punch into a bot, sending it flying.

"But just so you know, you're both losing!"

"Not for long!"

Teddy paused just long enough to throw Billy a wink before diving into the crowd of bots to find another to take out.

Billy grinned, feeling the familiar hot roll of _something_ in his stomach whenever Teddy looked at him like that. Or looked at him at all. Or spoke to him, cupping Billy's cheek and staring just a little too intensely…

Holy shit.

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

Billy was NOT one of those people. He was NOT.

He didn't LOVE Teddy. He'd only been with Teddy a month! It was lust, all lust, every caught up in the wonderful pleasure of firsts. He was NOT one of those sappy people who loved their boyfriends JUST because they were dating.

Besides, TEDDY hadn't been mentally dating HIM for a year. For Teddy, it had been a month and only a month.

Billy tried to pinpoint the moment when this stupid, totally irrational and TOTALLY untrue feeling cropped up inside him. It was probably before he'd even started _dating_ Teddy, that's how completely irrational this ridiculous feeling was.

And then he remembered explaining exactly _why_ Episode 5 of Star Wars was the best episode, without a doubt, and waving his arms like an idiot to express just how _right_ he was about the whole situation and Teddy had been staring and Billy had stopped because, god damn it Teddy was supposed to STOP him when he embarrassed himself but Teddy had just smiled and blushed when Billy asked 'What?'

"I like listening to you talk okay?" He mumbled, pulling his legs up under him and staring shyly at Billy.

"I… You what?"

"Keep going. Because I still think Episode 6 is the best." And well, Billy just couldn't let him say that without trying to convince him otherwise and he'd just launched back into conversation while Teddy sat there with a small smile on his face and his chin resting on his knees while he watched Billy rant.

And that was one of the best memories Billy could summon, just _talking_ to Teddy.

"Wic, get your head in the game! We need you over here!"

Oh god he was totally falling in love.

This couldn't be happening.

And then Teddy was grabbing him and giving him a firm shake, pulling him joltingly from his mind.

"B, come on. We need air support and magic support for the buildings. Are you okay?" He asked quietly, concern all but tattooed on his face.

Oh god.

Billy loved him.

"Fine!" Billy squeaked. "Good! Right! Air support? I'm up!" Teddy gave him one last concerned look before nodding and moving back into the fray.

Billy ran up the length of a fallen concrete beam, launching himself into the air and circling once. Focus Billy, focus.

He heard a great cracking sound and flipped around in the air.

"Shit. _…"_ flickering blue lights impressed themselves around the edge of the library that the doombots had been carving themselves into, heavy marble cracking and splintering from the whole as they forced the building to become unstable.

"Clear the area, I gotta let this drop!" Billy warned. Civilians – really, these people should have started running ages ago, but no, they're too busy _watching_ – scattered, some being forcibly pulled out of the way by others nearby.

Just to be sure, Billy ducked his head in concentration.

"_…_" The blue lights around the building wavered under the pressure of performing two spells at once, but held.

"Clear!" A voice shouted – Stature? – and Billy dropped his hold on the spell. The building cracked and crumbled and with great crashing and an upheaval of dust most of the external marble smashed to the ground.

Billy landed heavily, ducking around a doombot and waving a hand in its general direction behind him, the satisfying wind down of 'Doom! Doooooom! Dooooommmm…." alerting him to the fact that his bolt struck true.

He looked around and resisted the urge to laugh when he saw Teddy handing a small child off to a very panicked looking woman, who grabbed at the baby, shouted something, then ran away.

"Dude, I totally just got 'my baby!'ed and then called a freak." Teddy said unhappily as he moved over. The situation was winding down, most of the bots either down, twitching or locked in the cave in that they caused by the library.

"You got 'my baby!'ed?" Billy asked excitedly, his nerdier instincts jumping up before he could stop them.

"What the hell is that?" Tommy asked, appearing beside them, covered head to two in a fine white dust that made him seem ten times paler then he actually was.

"You know, a woman shouts all dramatically 'my baby!' and points in the general direction of a disaster and then the hero swoops in and saves the kid. It's in all the movies. I was at least hoping to get a 'thanks,' but I just got shouted at to stay away from her child." He shrugged, the movement looking very odd under heavily bulked shoulders, which at this current time were spiked largely.

"I'd have gotten a kiss." Tommy said with a grin.

"Shut up and go save someone." Teddy said, shoving him lightly. Tommy was already out of reach before Teddy had so much as twitched his arm.

"I will. I'll go save a baby and get a kiss."

"You're delusional!" Teddy shouted into the air – Tommy was already gone.

Teddy was grinning when he looked back at Billy.

"You're filthy."

"_I_ was fighting."

"And what was I doing? Playing soccer?"

"Well, you DID kick that doombots head pretty far…"

"Shut up Wic." Teddy said with an affectionate smile. This was easy. What was Billy worried about? Teddy swirled around his head, making him go all goofy faced and glassy eyed.

Shit, Billy, move away now before you do something stupid.

Like jumping him in a public area with a thousand cameras pointed at them.

"I pretty sure twenty people would have died if I had, as you said, _shut up_." Billy danced out of Teddy's reach when he moved to rub de-clawed knuckles into Billy's head and, laughing, ducked up and over a mound of rubble. He heard a yelp and scrambling sounds like Teddy was following him and he grinned, chuckling lightly. Sometimes the kid just tripped over his own transfigured feet.

"I count seventy points, but I also _saved_ twenty people single handed so I'm just gonna go ahead and say I won that." Billy said as he landed in a small hollow where the rest of the Young Avengers were gathering.

"Excuse me," Tommy said, skating to a stop, "but I saved tones of people without your help AND I blew up at least ten bots."

"Gave up on the baby saving?"

"Shut up Wiccan."

"Liar, there was no way you took out ten bots." Hawkeye said indignantly, waving her bow.

"Pur-lease, those things are like cake.

"Do you see that building," Billy said pointing at the crumbled library, "I _held up _the rubble. THAT has got to be worth extra points."

"Or not, because it's currently rubble and not the library anymore." Tommy shot.

"What'd you expect, that I'd hold it up forever?"

"Now that, that would have been impressive. You'd have gotten points for _that_."

"Regardless, I still have the most points."

"Well, actually," a voice drawled from atop the mound of rubble, "Since I went to the trouble of putting this whole affair together, I think I have the most points. I win this game."

The team spun around and froze. Doom. Doctor _Victor Von Doom_. World renowned villain and royal pain in the Avengers ass whenever he wasn't messing with the Fantastic Four – which, as it turns out, was often.

But that wasn't what captured their attention so completely fearfully.

Teddy hadn't been following Billy. He'd been getting caught.

He'd yelped. _He'd tried to call out for Billy._

And Billy had _laughed_. Oh shit.

Teddy, Billy's Teddy, normal, blonde and hulked, was held in Doom's hand like a piece of dirty clothing, clawing at the grip around his neck while his feet dangled and kicked below him.

Doom's hand twitched. There was a crack, a crack that shot around the city and pulled it into complete silence. And then the hand was gone and Teddy hit the ground.

Unmoving.

Still.

"Game over."


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this took so long to get up I'm in the middle of exams so the next few chapters might take some time...**

Everything was still. Like you'd expect it to go in the movies.

Perfectly motionless.

People were caught mid action, mid breath, silent and unmoving. Ash hung in the air, pausing mid-spiral.

And he felt calm.

He shouldn't feel calm.

It pressured onto him like a heavy blanket.

He could even _smile_ as he reached out, poking a particularly large piece of ash. It burst back into time and speed, seeming to fast in the stilled world as it twirled its unfortunate fate back to earth. He watched it as it dusted across the space, pushed by an invisible wind.

Everything was blurred and washed out, except for the ash. Colours ran together seamlessly into the background. But it was peacefully, mercifully, frozen.

Only the ash he had tapped moved. It rushed forward like it was missing something, like it was in a hurry. It slowed, seeming like it was going to settle over a fallen form. But then it lunged upwards, caught in a non-existent draft and flurrying around the head of pride.

Doom.

Victor Von Doom.

The world snapped into paralysing clarity, every colour becoming sharp and painful, every minuscule detail of the seen absorbed instantly in the moment.

But it was still frozen.

He had caught this world in an instant, a single moment, locked in this world of perfect lucidity.

He _remembered._ The warnings… the fighting… he should have been paying attention, but he was too busy with his own thoughts, with his _own_ mind; had it really been a game?

_Game Over._

Teddy.

He took an experimental step forward, testing the air. It bent for him, like it had the ash. He could feel the slightest caress of a breeze, urging him to take another step, whispers of unspoke encouragement gliding past his ears.

His steps were more purposeful now, determined but calm strides. Each step sent a billow of dirt and dust away from his foot's contact with the earth but they gathered in clouds where they hung, joining the frozen world around him.

He reached the fallen form and knelt.

Teddy was part of this world. The word that was so blindingly clear and painfully broken and perfectly still.

He smiled. Teddy was perfect there. He reached out, fingers lingering over the skin, perfectly poised – there was still warmth there. Teddy's cheeks were still flushed; eyelashes stuck together in clumps and dusted white; lips, dry and just a little cracked, jolted apart from the fall and sitting with just the smallest of gaps between them.

Teddy would stay still.

He stood and walked up the small embankment. Doom's arm was still outstretched, staring past him, to the crowd behind. He pulled himself to pull height.

Doom was shorter than him.

Ha.

He reached out, his palm flattening against Doom's chest and he shoved once. The shorter man tipped backwards, rolling down the slope on the other side.

Doom jumped to his feet again, spinning around wildly in surprise.

He looked down at him, his head cocking to the side like a curious child. How had something so clumsy, so small, inspired so much fear? The man had cowered behind the protection of his robots, unwilling to make a move on his own. Doom was a coward.

And Doom was forced to face Him now, without the protection of his robots. Without the protection of the world; _he_ was free to do as he pleased. And the little coward was forced to look up at him now.

And he was impressive, the only movement in a world of terrifying rigidity, just the movements of his chest, the curl of his fingers and the flicker of his cape in the non-existent wind, standing on that embankment with the dying afternoon his backdrop. His eyes glowed an unearthly blue; the air around him crackling and waving under the pure force of his power as it radiated off him.

"You DARE defy Doom?" Doom spat. His voice ripped into the cool silence of the world, tearing at it harshly.

It didn't belong.

"I do." His reply was so simply tranquil, resounding with cool disappointment, like the way a parent might talk to a small, misbehaving child.

"What are you? You cannot be human. Are you one of the mut-"

"_**Quiet**_**.**" He walked down the small embankment. Doom stumbled backwards, a hand on his throat as no sound escaped him.

Good.

"You took a life so needlessly. Why?" He knew better than to expect a response. His head cocked to the side once more, studying Doom like he would something strange found on the bottom of his shoe.

"Did you know it only takes 8 pounds of pressure to break a neck? It doesn't sound like much, does it? Presuming you cracked the angle right. But you didn't do that. You probably just crushed until everything was dust under your fingers." He flexed his fingers and Dooms eyes widened under his mask.

"It must have felt awfully powerful to know all you had to do was… _**squeeze**_."

Doom crumbled.

And he smiled.

"Hu. It did." He took a few steps forward and nudged Doom's fallen form with the toe of his shoe.

"You wanted to play our game. _Now_, it is over. Do the world a favour. No tricks this time. No coming back. _**Stay dead.**_"

Doom's body buzzed blue, but when it faded it looked unchanged.

He crossed back over the embankment and settled back by Teddy, wondering if he could touch. Could he risk it?

"Teddy…" the name rolled around him like the ash had done, flittering and catching in the air.

"_**Live**_."

The world snapped back. Sound crashed around Billy's ears, too loud, and there was movement and lights and colours and shouting, all too fast for Billy to understand. Everyone was still for a couple of seconds as time restarted; attempting to process all the changes that, to them had occurred in the time it took to blink. But Billy didn't care about them.

Because Teddy _wasn't waking up_.

"Teddy. Teddy, come on." He murmured. He touched him now, shaking him lightly. There were voices, screaming, yelling, the sound of the city, the sound of parts of the library falling to the ground with great booms and billows of dust.

But he could hear another, tiny sound that rang so much louder in his ears than all the other sounds that were bearing down on him.

_Thump, thump._

Heartbeat.

_Thump, thump_._ Thump, thump_.

Steady.

_Alive._

"HULKING!"

"Wiccan?"

"I-is he okay?"

"He's a skrull, remember, vital organs are protected – he should be able to pop that right back in."

Oh.

Shit.

Billy had completely forgotten about that. That's why Teddy wasn't waking up. That's why his magic wasn't working. Because he was already _alive_.

"What happened to Doom?"

Everything happened in the space of a heartbeat.

It was so incredibly clear to him, imprinted in his mind – but it was like the memories did not belong to him.

He dipped into the pool of power that he should never, ever have touched.

And he'd _murdered _with it.

"Uh, guys?" He looked up at the worried sound in Patriot's voice and half expected the group to be looking at Billy like the monsters he'd just helped them defeat. But he was staring towards the library.

"Did we ever stop those bots that got into the library?"

"Oh… no…"

"Did we ever wonder WHY they got into the library?"

The library was shaking the ground around them beginning to do the same.

"Uh oh."

"What's hap-"

"I'm checking it out." And then Tommy was gone. He was back before anyone could say anything about him being a stupid idiot for risking himself.

"BOMB!" He shouted, skidding to a stop.

"What?"

"BIG FREAKIN' BOMB, WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! 2 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK."

"How big?"

"Like big enough to make Pennsylvania exist no more!"

"Can we disarm it? Move it away from populated areas?"

"We can't do anything! It's sealed! I can't even lift it to run it away."

"Fuck!"

"One minute, thirty seconds."

"Wiccan, can you magic it away?"

"I can try! _…" _

"STILL THERE! TRY HARDER!"

"Sixty seconds!"

Still there? He had untold amount of power and he couldn't sift a single, lousy bomb? Unless…

"Doom must have put magical protections around it. I can't move it."

"Oh my god. We're all gonna die and we're taking Pennsylvania with us."

"Forty five seconds!"

Billy was in the air before he'd finished his sentence.

"SHIELDS ARE UP!" He shouted back down to them, holding steady arms out before him. The power pulses through him like a burning electrical current as the building was wrapped in a cocoon of blue light.

Where before he had struggled to keep hold of a few falling bricks, this thicker layer of magic felt like nothing at all. Like he wasn't even casting.

What had he done?

He'd gone from working out he was in _love_ to being a murder in under half hour. And he'd tapped into god knows what kind of power source to do it.

But he hadn't meant to.

"Can you hold it?"

"I don't know!"

"How long we got?"

"Not lo-"

The library erupted and for a second Billy was sure he had frozen the world again. There was a rush of heat, so scalding that Billy felt like a bucket of boiling water had been poured over him. But… the shields held.

It was just the heat wave. The explosion… the explosion was contained.

It was beautiful.

Like watching a war in slow motions, the red and orange and black fighting and wriggling and battling and bugling within the container of brilliant blue, casting the entire city under its eerie light.

"_…_" It almost felt like a shame to seal the shield so completely that oxygen was cut off and watch as the fires died. It only took a few minutes before the last lick of the explosion had flickered out.

The shield wound away alike an uncoiling snake and Billy drifted the ground.

"Wic…" Billy turned to look at them, grinning foolishly, exhaustion hitting him like a chunk of concrete.

Okay.

So he didn't have untold powers. He just couldn't feel them draining WHILE he drained them.

"Stopped it." He said stupidly.

"Wic, you're bleeding." Hawkeye said in a small voice.

Billy blinked and ran a hand across the top of his lip. Nose bleed? Something tickled on this neck and he rubbed at it – blood dripped from his ear.

Okay, that's really not good.

"'S'kay. Just happens."

"Wh-what actually happened here?" They turned to face Iron Man as he landed, Captain America pinned to his side.

"We saw the start of the fight and were on our way to help when the column appeared…"

"Wiccan just contained a freakin' atomic bomb, THAT'S what happened!"

"What?"

Billy wasn't listening to them. He'd already stumbled back over to Teddy, still lying where he'd been dropped.

"Teddy. Wake up." He shook him again. Had to work this time right?

"_**Faster**_**.**" Billy demanded with another shake.

There was a distinct crack and Teddy shoot up with a desperate gulp for air.

"Billy?" He gasped, blinking at him.

"Hey T."

"I- Doom, I couldn't… Oh my god, you're bleeding! A lot!"

"Just a nose bleed T. I'm fine. We're all fine."

Teddy crushed him against his chest, ignoring the attempts of those surrounding them to gain their attention. Billy leaned into him, threading now shaking arms around him.

He was a murder.

He was a hero.

He was _tired._

"'M jusgonna rest here a sec, k?" Billy mumbled into Teddy's chest.

"S'okay B. I got you."

He smiled into Teddy's chest, ignoring the metallic taste of blood when he did so.

It'd be okay.

It'd be okay.


	8. Chapter 8

**As a warning: It does contain sex.**

**Writers note: This is the final chapter of this story (although probably not the final piece from this alternate world). Thanks to everyone who followed Billy and Teddy through this little emotional roller-coaster. Cheers and enjoy. xx**

When he'd come too after the fight there had been a party going on.

This wasn't particularly unusual as normally it was Tony's reaction to think 'It's Wednesday – PARTY TIME'.

It was nearly over by the time Billy woke up, which was a real shame, considering it was in his honour. In fact, when he did wake up, he was alone. It was only for a minute or so, which he spent blearily blinking at the room around him and trying to make some sense of where he was. Teddy appeared after a moment of confusion, entering with flairs of noise from the party beyond the door, closing it quietly behind him.

"Hey, you're awake," he said with a soft smile, moving over to the bed and sitting beside him with a small smile, "Doctor Strange said you could be out for ages – and that you're powers might be down for a few days after that too. He, just, magicked you into new clothes and stuff, in case you're wondering how you're all clean now…" Billy didn't say anything for a long moment and Teddy inched closer, moving and sitting on the centre of the bed before him, concerned.

"B? You okay in there?" He reached up and touched Billy's cheek lightly, ducking his head slightly to check Billy's eyes.

That's all it took.

Contact.

Teddy was here, Teddy was alive and now Teddy was making a funny yelping noise when Billy launched forward, crashing against Teddy with such a force that he fell back against the bed. Teddy didn't have much of a chance to react, his cautious 'Bil-'cut off when Billy scrambled up over him and pressed urgent lips against his.

Teddy had said later and they had come so close to never _having_ a later. Not again.

His hands moved purposefully, slipping under the shirt Teddy was wearing – he could tell now from the close proximity that Teddy had showered and changed – sliding over smooth, undamaged plains of Teddy's stomach. And then he was tugging, because there just wasn't _enough_ contact. Pulling off the shirt meant that he had to break contact with Teddy's lips, and that just wasn't acceptable just yet – for a moment the shirt remained bunched under Teddy's arm pits until finally they needed to _breathe_ and Billy took the opportunity to yank the offending article of clothing off.

But Teddy moved faster than Billy expected, catching him before Billy could make it all the way down again.

"Billy, stop!" Billy froze and then pulled back instantly, resting on his knees and staring down at Teddy.

He couldn't help it – rejection curled in his stomach like curdled milk, sending a flush to his cheeks and stinging to his eyes. Teddy didn't want him anymore.

What had he done?

Did Teddy know he'd killed?

Was he disgusted by Billy now?

"B…" Teddy said softly, sitting up, his hands moving to Billy's hips to pull him in closer.

Okay, now that was just mixed signals and really, really unfair on Billy's already confused mind.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" He asked quietly. Was he su… OF COURSE HE WAS SURE.

"Teddy, you nearly died. _I_ nearly _lost_ you," Billy wrapped strong arms around Teddy's neck and leaned in closer as if to prove a point, "I _need_ this."

That was all the encouragement Teddy required. He pushed forward, catching Billy's lips again. Where before Billy had been rushed and desperate, Teddy took his time drawing Billy in, sucking on his tongue and working welts onto his neck when Billy started panting a desperate need for air. He pushed Billy down against the bed, hovering over him in a way that almost exactly matched Billy's position from the day before.

It seemed like a life time ago.

It was completely undignified of him to do so, but Billy made the cutest noises when cornered like this, so Teddy took the opportunity to paw the boy through his sweats while he licked up and down Billy's neck. He could feel _everything_ through the thin fabric that Doctor Strange had summoned onto Billy and Billy's breath caught before he gave a quick groan, rubbing upwards into Teddy's grip.

He laughed into Billy's throat when his movements became a little more frantic.

"T, stop teasing – _please_." Billy begged after a few minutes of trying to snake his hands lower, only to have them caught and pushed away by Teddy's free hand.

"But it's so much _fun_." Teddy murmured back. Billy made a keening noise and pushed harder against Teddy's hand, only to have Teddy pull it away.

"Where were we last time?" Teddy asked with a sly grin. He let his face clear dramatically, like he'd suddenly remembered.

"Oh I remember. Round…" he slid lower, his quickly traced kisses not nearly as slow and tantalizing as they had been before, but their effects the same, "here." He pressed his lips against Billy's hipbone, exposed during his struggles against Teddy's hand. He reached up, tugging at the waist line of Billy's pants and leaning back long enough to pull the damn things right off and toss them away into the corner. And then he was back, completely ignoring the newly exposed flesh now pressing hard against Billy's stomach in favour of sucking another red mark on Billy's inner thigh.

"Teddy, come_ on_!" Billy managed to gasp. Teddy snickered to himself, but decided he'd done enough. His hand closed around the base of Billy's erection and watched as his boyfriend went completely still. He leaned in closer, looking up at Billy from his position between his legs.

Billy was staring back down at him, propped up on his elbows, his bottom lip caught so tightly between his teeth that Teddy felt a fleeting concern for its wellbeing. Then he breathed out, hot breath cascading over burning flesh and Billy's eyes fluttered. With a grin Teddy gave one, experiment swipe of his tongue. Billy groaned, his head tipping back, his hands clenching at the sheets under him.

Teddy took the plunge, both figuratively and literally, leaning in and, without any kind of prelude, swallowed several inches. He swirled his tongue around again before he began to bob. Billy moaned and the hold his elbows were providing gave out, the bed shuttering as he dropped against it. A moment later his hands were curling in Teddy's blonde mop, encouraging him with tightened grips and throaty moans. It wasn't until Billy started to arch into him, thrusting back into the movement that Teddy pulled away.

"What, no!" Billy called but Teddy laughed at him, crawling up over Billy's chest and cutting off Billy's whimpering with a kiss.

"Not yet. I need to get something." Billy wasn't coherent anymore, his words a jumbled mix of Teddy, please, and come on!

Teddy jumped off the bed, moving quickly to the overnight bag he'd grabbed from his house on the way home, suddenly eternally grateful that he always kept certain supplies tucked in the back pocket, just in case. He took the opportunity while he was up to quickly work his way out of his jeans. That would save time later.

"Teddy I swear to god, if you don't hurry the fuck up I'm going on without you." Billy shot from the bed, his hands clenching the sheets so hard his knuckles were white in the effort to keep from finishing what Teddy started. Teddy was back on the bed in a second, leaning over his boyfriend.

"Trust me B, it'll be worth the wait." He whispered teasingly into Billy's ear. Billy groaned. He couldn't take this much longer. His heart was hammering out of his chest and Teddy was _barely_ touching him. It wasn't until he heard the pop of the bottle cap lid that he started to catch on.

"T?" He asked breathlessly, the eyes that he had squeezed shut flying open. Teddy was still hovering over him, but his eyes were closed and his face contorted in concentration, _one hand reached behind him_. Suddenly Billy was very glad that Teddy wasn't touching him because that sight was almost too much.

Teddy didn't waste time with delicacies – he opened himself quickly, smooth and practiced. He'd never done this with a partner, but alone he had. When he opened his eyes Billy was staring up at him with an air of amazement, brown eyes sparkling and lips swollen from being held between his teeth and pressed against Teddy's. Teddy made a noise in the back of his throat, extracted his hand and grabbed a condom from where he'd drop it on the bed, ripping the silver foil with his teeth before rolling it over Billy's dick with slightly shaking hands. This would probably hurt but at this point he couldn't care less.

He grabbed the little bottle, spreading liberal amounts over Billy while the other boy withered and bucked in his hold. Then Teddy shifted over him, positioning himself carefully.

"Ready?" Teddy breathed, wondering if maybe he should be asking himself the same question.

"Ready." Billy said quickly.

They both gasped at the same time as Teddy sunk onto Billy. He moved excruciatingly slow, wincing only once or twice until skin pressed against skin and he couldn't sink anymore. They were both still for a long time, while Teddy adjusted, both breathing heavily although neither of them had done much. Billy felt like his heart was about ready to explode inside his chest, thrashing against his rib cage with everything it had in the still wait. And then Teddy _moved_.

It was slow at first, like all his other movements, just a short roll to see how it felt. But he rolled again and again, speeding faster.

After that there is no thought, no planning.

Just the heat, the intensity, the desperate need to always be touching, for lips to be pressed against skin, frantic moans and jumbled words. They were teetering on an edge and with every thrust and whispered name and frenzied shout they were pulling each other over. At some point they rolled and Billy was put in control, pushing forward with everything he had, trying his best to respond to Teddy's disjointed advice about faster or harder until it was just _Billy, Billy, Billy, _over and over.

Billy came first, trapped in the heat, bent low over Teddy, his teeth sinking into Teddy's shoulder as he shuttered and spasmed. That seemed to push Teddy over the edge and he came hard between them with a shout.

They lay like that for a while; Teddy's arms wrapped loosely around Billy's waist until their breathing was no longer rapid and their hearts were stilling in their chest. Billy pulled out and fell heavily on his side, Teddy's arm still lying in an oddly comfortable manner around him.

"Woah." Billy said after a long moment of silence.

"My sentiments exactly." Teddy joked, reaching for the sheet and using it to haphazardly clean them up before tossing it on the ground and curling up around Billy under the thick blanket provided. He nuzzled into Billy's neck before yawning, bonelessly tired after sex.

"You're amazing B." Teddy said in a slow, sleepy voice, interrupting a silence that Billy was sure would carry him to sleep.

"You too T." Billy said with a small laugh.

"Love you." Teddy mumbled, seeming to be mostly asleep at this point. Billy's chest clenched, but he just smiled into Teddy's hair.

"Love you too."

He _really_ didn't want to move. Ever. This was the best feeling in the world and he wanted to stay here, in this moment, for the rest of his life. If he had his way he _would_ stay in this moment for the rest of his life. The problem was… he was thirsty.

It wasn't the 'Oh, I'm a little bit thirsty but it can wait' thirsty. He was _parched_. Like he'd run a marathon. He was sure that Teddy would willing lay claim to that, but really he wasn't completely responsible – Billy had been tired and thirsty even before he jumped his boyfriend. Now it was just like the effects were enhanced. It was really distracting. He couldn't get to sleep – all he could think about was how thirsty he was.

He'd already tried wishing himself a drink. It didn't work – he was tapped out for a few days, at least, just like Doctor Strange had told Teddy.

Getting up to get a drink wasn't just difficult mentally, because leaving Teddy's side after that was just impossible for his mind to comprehend. Physically, it was a real struggle, because when he'd finally worked up the nerve to pull himself away for the few minutes it would take to bring relief to his throat, Teddy realized he was trying to leave.

With lightning quick reflexes not suited to the sleepy blink of his eyes or the sluggish tone of his words, Teddy gripped at Billy when he felt the boy start to pull away, all but pinning Billy against him.

"Wazhappn', where you goin'?"

"Relax T, I just need a drink. You made me really thirsty." Teddy made a sound that could very distantly be considered a chuckle, but he was too far gone in tiredness for it to be completely accurate.

"Sure did." Teddy managed with a sloppy grin, his grip on Billy loosening to let him go. Billy rolled his eyes and leaned in, kissing Teddy lightly – the boy hummed under him for a moment, but Billy was sure he was completely asleep by the time he pulled away.

He yawned, pulled on a pair of pants from the ground without really paying any kind of attention who they belonged too and trudged out of the room in search of refreshments. He wasn't as familiar with the tower as he would have liked, but he found the kitchen pretty quickly nonetheless, sculling his way through several glasses of water before re-filling one last time and leaning carefully against the counter. The tower was in a state of disarray from the party – Billy had had to step over an unidentified superhero in the hall – the kitchen around him in no better state. It was almost comforting in a way, to know that nobody would have heard what Billy and Teddy had done, alone in the bedroom.

The tower was now blissfully silent now, however, in the early hours of the morning with the party now dead. Billy yawned and then grinned to himself – Teddy really had tired him out. He shook his head and started his walk back to bed.

"You're an idiot Tony." Billy paused – he knew he shouldn't, that eavesdropping wasn't something he should do ever. But really, he couldn't help himself.

"Come on Steve it's not that ba-"

"You came to me, TOLD me you have PROOF Wiccan used his powers to kill someone, then two hours later you throw the kid a _party?"_ His heart stopped in his chest.

He knew this was coming.

What would they do with him?

Lock him away?

How?

"He stopped a NEAR ATOMIC BOMB. We'd all be dead if it weren't for him."

"Tony…"

"Don't get all soft voiced 'this is a serious issue so obviously I'm right' on me Steve. Billy is a _good_ kid and he's _trying_. He screwed up. He made ONE mistake. And you know what? His mistake probably saved one of our lives later on. You _know_ what kind of games Doom liked to play and you can't tell me you weren't sick of those bloody doom bots rampaging through the city every other weekend. Billy killed one BAD MAN and then rounded the corner and saved _everyone_. I think the kid deserves a little party after that."

Billy peaked around the corner at this point, just desperate to see Steve's face, because his reply was silent.

They appeared to be getting ready for bed, a fresh shirt clung in Steve's grip as he crossed the room, wrapping strong arms around Tony's smaller frame and mumbling into his neck.

"I know. I know, Tones, I know all of that. But Wanda–"

"Billy isn't Wanda."

"I _know_. But Wanda was all of that too, and she turned on us. Her friends. Her _family_. Because she lost someone she loved. What happens when something else happens to Teddy, and Billy blames us? He's so powerful Tony – you had to invent a whole new type of freeze framing just so we could get a _glimpse_ of what happened with Doom."

"We prepare. We have knowledge now that we didn't _have _then. We can help him control his abilities, control his mind, force him to encounter situations in a controlled environment that well allow him to deal with the same situations in an uncontrolled environment."

"We can't do anything to Teddy, Tony, even if the kid can heal."

"I'm not talking about that. I mean simulations. Training. _Helping_. Billy is powerful, Steve, I know that and it scares the shit out of me just as much as it scares you. But he is _good_ right down to the bloody core. He doesn't _want_ to be a murderer. And he saved all of our asses today. You know just as well as I do that we would never have even noticed the god damn bomb. Doom would have stepped up on the plate and started his suicidal rant and we would have been so distracted by him that we just fried in our spots."

Steve sighed into Tony's neck and remained silent so long that Billy assumed the conversation was over.

"When did you get so leader-y."

"Good English there Steve."

"No, really."

"When you stopped being so bossy that I could get a word in edge wise." Steve chuckled and a few minutes later Tony made a soft groaning sound – Billy took that as his queue to get the hell out of there.

It meant a lot to him that Tony believed in him like that.

And Billy wouldn't let him down.

Okay so he was a murderer.

Okay.

He could deal with that.

Doom was a bad person. He'd killed hundreds of people and gotten off scotch free. Innocent people. He'd tried, and nearly succeeded, to blow up Pennsylvania.

Doom was bad. And he… he was an accident.

Billy didn't have as much control over his powers then. He just flipped out and then Doom was down. He could work on that. Get better. Just like Tony said.

At least that was what he told himself to get to sleep.

He might not stay asleep.

But… it helped.

And, well, frankly, if he did say so himself – or if he glanced at any of the major newspapers – he was a hero.

He didn't want to sound cocky but he looked GOOD on the cover of the Daily Bugle, a giant photograph taken from behind him of the column containing the explosion, his figure silhouetted against the light. The story was as fluffy and promoting as a Daily Bugle piece could get, only making one or two snide remarks about him. There was a direct quote from Speed, although Billy suspected it was overheard rather than recorded in an interview, that stated the bomb was atomic – this lead to a duel article with praise to Wiccan for stopping it and criticism of the Avengers for saying it was LESS than atomic and for not realizing that Doom was hiding an atomic weapon in the city library, leaving the issue to be solved by the local children.

Doom's death had been covered briefly and shortly, summarized in a short paragraph at the end of the article with a note explaining a focus issue for the following week. It stated that he'd been killed in the fight, medical reports suggesting that his neck was broken under the hold of one of his own doom bots.

This was the story everyone believed; including the other Young Avengers. Billy hadn't even told Teddy what he did yet.

Something went wrong with the bot, it malfunctioned somehow and Doom was too busy bragging to notice and then it was just too late.

Billy knew that Steve and Tony knew the truth. Nothing kills the post 'I'm-in-a-totally-fucked-up-mental-state-but-that-doesn't-matter-because-I-love-you-and-you're-here-and-I'm-here-and-we-survived' sex bliss like trying to get a glass of water and over hearing Mom and Dad talking about your first kill.

But they hadn't acted on it. They just left him. Training had increased a little, but that was it. This freaked Billy out more than if they'd approached him about it. Really, it meant a lot that Tony believed in him but getting off scotch free without as much as a lecture?

That just wasn't right.

Steve was probably waiting for Billy to come to him though… and Billy just wasn't quite ready for that yet.

Oh and there was another thing, he was totally not a virgin anymore. God. Was it wrong that on some level he really considered that to be one of the biggest changes in this life?

But really none of that mattered this second.

Because right now it didn't matter if he killed a thousand people, saved a million lives or fucked a hundred dudes – he was still about to die.

"B, it's just a test…"

"I'm going to die."

He _failed_ a _test._ He NEVER failed ANYTHING.

He could stop an atomic bomb but he couldn't pass a freakin' geometry test.

Billy groaned and let his forehead smack against the table, Teddy only just managing to snatch his plate out from under him before he ended up with a face full of burger. Teddy had taken him out to a café somewhere to ease the pain of his terrible failure.

"Come on, it wasn't even worth anything B, don't sweat it."

"My mother is going to kill me."

"She won't okay? This is ONE mistake. Besides, I'm pretty good at geometry. I can help you." Billy lifted his head from the table just a little, eyeing Teddy suspiciously.

"You're good a geometry?" Teddy smirked at him.

"There's a reason only one person at this table is complaining about their grade, B."

"What? Why? How'd you do?" Teddy's smug look smudged away.

"Uh. I did okay."

"Lemme see."

"B, no, I don't thi-"

"_IwanttoseeTeddy'stest_." The paper fluttered onto the table between them and Billy started at the mark in the little red circle for a good five minutes before he spoke.

"Y-you got full marks?"

"I like geometry. And you shouldn't use your magic like that." Teddy said defensively, snatching the paper away and stuffing it into the bag again.

"FULL marks?"

"What's the big deal?" Billy continued to stare at him in shock. He was barely scrapping a pass in geometry and this last test was enough to drag him under. But Teddy was some kind of wonderful geometry god.

"You gotta help me." Teddy's smirk was back at Billy's begging tone.

"Well… maybe… but you SHOULD know all this already…" Teddy said, chewing a chip thoughtfully, turning his head as if uninterested but watching Billy out the corner of his eye.

"Teddy, please, come on, I'll do anything, I _need_ help." Teddy sighed dramatically

"Fine, I'll help my poor little un-mathly-inclined boyfriend. I'm sure we can think of _some_ way to make learning geometry interesting." Teddy's foot nudged his under the table, skimming around his ankle and he winked at Billy.

"So," Billy said, before coughing because that came out way more high pitched than intended, "wanna go study?" Teddy broke into a mischievous smirk and slid out of the table slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"My place is quieter – mum's working a late shift and we have it all to ourselves."

Billy actually had to bite his lip to keep from making a physical noise when Teddy's eyes prowled up and down him like he was on display at an exhibition before his boyfriend turned and started out of the café and Billy had to scramble after him to follow.

They barely made it to the door, however, before dual ringing tones erupted from their pockets.

"Later?" Teddy managed as he fished his communicator from his jeans. Billy sighed as a sudden realization struck him.

"Later… after I've done my homework."

Damn.

It's really not easy bein' a hero in high school.


	9. Some People Just Have Problems

**Part of the AU of "It ain't easy bein' a hero in high school," set after part 8. Part of the lead up to the sequel - there will be a bunch of little fics to lead up to the sequel. Billy gets injured and Teddy plays nurse.**

It was one of the few times that Billy came home with bruises and had really, truly tried to avoid getting them.

Kids at school never touched him - that much was true. Fear of Teddy, and by extension anyone whom Teddy counted as a friend, kept Billy safe. But Teddy's reach didn't extend very far beyond the school halls and Billy was relatively unprotected on the streets of New York City, which were strangely homophobic for a place where gay marriage had just been legalized.

It wasn't like you could look at Billy and _tell_ he was gay – people couldn't just wear their sexuality like a t-shirt, not unless they really wanted too. However Billy was a creature of habit. He went to the same stores, the same cafés, caught the same subways and walked the same distances – and now Teddy often accompanied him.

This wasn't an issue. It really wasn't. The waitress at his favourite café had actually squealed in delight when Billy had said oh so casually 'oh, this is Teddy, my boyfriend'. Only one person seemed to really have any issue with his being gay.

John Kessler worked at Billy's favourite comic book store. His dad owned the place – Kessler often complained about working in a place for 'dweebs' but Billy made sure to ignore him. It killed Billy inside that he would love to work in a place like this and Kessler hated every second inside the superb store. Kessler, it appeared, also had a rather large issue with Billy (and Teddy) being a couple. It wasn't like they'd make out in the middle of the store or anything. But they'd hold hands, or giggle over a comic whose artist had changed and screwed up their characters, or stare and laugh while the other explained something about a comic they loved.

It had been pretty fast really, too fast for Billy to magic his way out of the situation. Kessler had cornered him in the alley behind the store, shoving him against the rough brick as Billy went to make his way home. He'd only managed to get out a few solid hits before Billy, using some of the tricks Teddy had since taught him to get out of bullying situations without using his powers, managed to duck out, pulling Kessler's strength against him and shoving him against the wall. Billy didn't take time to gloat or otherwise attack – he just ran to the nearest clear alleyway and wished himself home.

"B?" Billy froze in the bathroom where he'd dropped himself.

Damn.

He'd forgotten that Teddy was coming over this afternoon – but then again Teddy came over most afternoons, so it wasn't really surprising at all.

He hurriedly twisted the lock and went about trying to clear his face – his nose was bleeding up a storm, soaking his shirt in red. He gave it up as a bad job and tossed it in the hamper, stuffing tissue into his nose and gingerly dabbing at his eye.

"Billy, that you?" Teddy's voice was closer and a soft knock sounded from the door.

"Just a min T, not decent." There's a laugh.

"I've seen you naked B, you don't need to hide in the bathroom." Billy chooses not to respond to that because heat is flaring in his cheeks and his smile makes his new wounds hurt. He reaches for the disinfectant, trying to think up excuses that wouldn't sound used and worn.

Muggers could work. Jumped leaving the comic book store. He could always magic the bruises away, he supposed, but last time he did that it only worked like a cover up and they'd come back looking blotchier and more painful than ever.

The disinfectant dropped from his grip and splashed open on the ground. He swore loudly and moved to quickly to pick it up, misjudging his distance from the sink and smacking his forehead sharply on the porcelain.

"B? What was that?"

"Ah… shit… nothing! Just dropped the… something!"

"Billy, I'm coming in."

"No don't co-" It was too late, however, and Teddy pushed the door open, snapping effortlessly through the lock.

"Teddy, you can't just break the door!" Billy shot upwards from where he was bent picking up the bottle, startled slightly by Teddy's apparent disrespect for his parent's house, smacking his head once again on the sink.

"Billy?" Billy groaned and rubbed at the back of his head, the front throbbing with the pain of being both punched and smacked against the skin. He felt Teddy grab him and force him to sit on the toilet – he didn't bother arguing, currently fighting a sudden and un-nerving wave of nausea.

"B, what the hell?" Teddy hand pressed carefully around his cheeks, tilting his head upward to check the raising bumps. He tugged lightly at the tissue in Billy's nose, now soggy and red, tossing it in the sink and quickly wrapping a new, thick layer of paper around his hand before pressing it lightly under the flow.

"What happened?"

"Jumped outside the comic book store. S'okay, I shook 'em, but it was too fast for me to use my powers. Just used that move you taught me and ran."

"You used one of the moves? Which one" Teddy could hardly shake the pride from his voice as he lightly took the disinfectant from Billy's grip and gently went about rubbing it over the little cuts on Billy's face.

"The one when you hook under their arm and shove. They hit the wall and I didn't look back."

"They cornered you?"

"For a second."

"Muggers?"

"Yeah."

Teddy gave him a look that clearly indicated that Teddy didn't believe that. Not in the slightest. But he just sighed and shook his head.

"I think," he said slowly, pulling the tissue away again, "the bleeding has stopped."

"Good, I was getting worried…"

Teddy laughed because the curious expression on Billy's face when he peered down at his own blood was too cute for words. And then he sighed because really this sight was becoming frighteningly and sickeningly familiar.

"You gotta stop getting hurt B. My poor little heart can't take it."

Billy just smiled like he always smiled, tilted his head into the hand resting on his cheek and closed his eyes.

"I know T. I know."

They sat in silence for a long moment.

"It wasn't muggers was it?"

"Teddy…"

"Come on B, be honest with me."

"You can't hurt him, promise me."

"I ca-"

"Promise me Teddy, that you won't touch him."

"It's Kessler isn't it."

"Promise me." Billy grabbed at his cheek, forcing him into eye contact. Teddy could see the bruise, already welling around Billy's right eye, while he stared at his boyfriend. He sighed heavily and loudly in defeat, pressing a forehead against Billy's.

"You'll be the death of me B."

"Don't joke about that."

"I won't touch him. I'll just… glare threateningly and… I dunno, not say thank you when I buy the comics."

"I love you so much sometimes."

"I know."

"Hey, Kessler."

"Hey Tommy. Ain't seen you around here for a wh-"

The fist slammed into Kessler's face before he finished the sentence, sending him flying into the street. Tommy followed closely, glad for the falling darkness and the notorious habit of New York residence to ignore violence once the sun went down.

"You messed with the wrong guys brother, Kessler. And just cuz Billy has his idiotic boyfriend wrapped around his little finger and made Teddy promise not to touch you _doesn't_ mean I have to abide by the same rules."

Tommy smiled darkly, lifting Kessler by his shirt and grinning maliciously down at him.

"Now let's see," he said, drawing back his arm, "if we can make you a little better looking, eh?"


	10. It's only a truck I've been hit by worse

"God damn—" There was a sharp hiss of a breath being painfully sucked in.

Teddy paused on his way to the bedroom.

He recognized that.

"Stupid piece of adhesive tape just – fuck."

Billy had done it _again._ Gone and gotten himself beaten up and was trying to make the wounds look days old so Teddy wouldn't question it.

He didn't even bother to knock when he slammed open the bathroom door, face already set to disapproval mode.

"Fuck Altman!"

Teddy froze.

Not Billy.

"T-Tommy?"

"God, learn to knock I could have been _naked_ or something. Bathrooms have a lock for a _reason_."

Teddy didn't say anything to that – he was too busy staring. Tommy looked like he'd gone ten rounds with an eight-wheeler and _lost every round_. He was covered in marks, shallow cuts that ran up and down his arms and legs and fresh bruises that Teddy knew would darken and purple within a few hours. There was a curious criss-cross pattern of bruise marks flittered across his chest. Teddy barely register that Tommy was just standing there in his underwear, bandage sticking to his fingers and an annoyed look on his face.

"What _happened?_" Teddy moved further into the bathroom.

"I took care of the dick that beat up Kaplan."

"You did what?"

"I took care of him."

"I… eh… wait, a-and what, he managed to get you back?" Tommy snorted but his face flared with pain and one hand flying to his ribs, the other steadying himself against the basin.

"That ass couldn't land a hit if he had help. No, I knocked him into the street and was just about to finish pummelling his sorry ass when a freaking truck came flying around the corner; I wasn't about to let him get hit by a truck, I mean, I wanted him hurt but not _dead_ so I just sorta tossed him aside-"

"and got hit by a _truck?_"

"Lightly. It clipped me."

"You have the imprint of the grate on your _chest_."

"That's not from the truck, that's from the gutter grate I landed on when the truck clipped me."

"Gutter gra… dude, what the hell! Why didn't you ask for help or something?"

"I don't need your help."

"You're _bleeding." _

"I got hit by a truck, what do you expect me to do, _sparkle_? I said I'm fine. Now if you excuse me, I'm feelin' the chill so," Tommy made as if to run from the room, but he barely took a step – super speed or otherwise – before he was doubled over, clutching his side. Teddy moved quickly, grabbing a larger bandage from the side of the sink and resting a hand lightly on Tommy's back while he slowly straightened.

"Alt-"

"Tommy, god damn it, shut up and _let me help you_."

"I said I don't nee-"

Teddy growled, an honest to god _growl_, like an angry and vicious dog and Tommy's jaw snapped shut. He'd never admit it but that was the single most terrifying sound he'd ever heard. Teddy pulled open the bandage and, fixing Tommy with a stern look, went about wrapping his ribs. Tommy closed his eyes focusing on not squeaking in pain every time Teddy touched his chest – he was being gentle, surprisingly gentler than Tommy thought he was capable, but it still hurt.

"Tommy," Tommy's eyes snapped open and Teddy wasn't glaring at him anymore – his expression was sympathetic, "you got hurt trying to help Billy. If anyone can understand your actions it's me. But you gotta know if he finds out _this_, all these," he indicated to the wounds, "and he finds out you got them trying to beat up his bully it's going to _crush_ him."

"I won't tell him Altman, getting bested by a truck isn't exactly a bragging point."

"That's not what I meant." Teddy tapped the bandage into place and Tommy twisted slightly to test its hold. His chest didn't explode with pain this time – a plus.

"Look thanks but I gotta-"

"No, shut up okay? _You got hurt trying to help Billy._ What you don't understand is Kessler could break every bone in his body and it won't hurt Billy half as much as loosing you would. You were reckless and you got hurt because of it, that's bad enough; but getting hurt, especially this bad, and _not_ accepting my help? That… that's just _stupid._ If you need help freakin' ask for it because if you _die_ because you're too _proud_ to ask I will bring you back from the dead just to _beat_ your sorry ass for hurting Billy like that."

Tommy gapped at him for a moment before composing himself.

"First of all I had it handled. Second of all, I won't _die_, I'm not that stupid - and even if I did Billy has a strong enough support system around him not to have to care if I kick it. The team doesn't even really need me Altman, it wouldn't be that much of a loss so I don't see why you care. However the Young Avengers would get significantly less good looking, I suppose." Teddy's hand snapped out and slapped Tommy over the head, albit lighter than he would have normally, wary of injuries.

"We're not just your team-mates Tommy, we're your _family_. The sooner you get that through your thick skull the better. Damn it kid. When are you gonna learn?"

Tommy stiffened and froze.

Because Teddy was _hugging him_.

"Tommy… we'd miss you okay? You're not just some bonus member or comedic relief and I'm not just saying this because you're Billy's twin. I don't know what happened to you before, back in jail, what you had to go through for that, but I know that you weren't always like this. You need to _know_ Tommy, we're not gonna leave you, no matter what. We _care_ that you come home broken. So just… let us help fix you okay? Just let us _help_. Billy loves you Tommy and it doesn't matter how many sarcastic comments you make or silly faces you pull when someone says it, you _know_ it's true. Stop acting like the whole world turned its back on you, because even if it did… he _didn't_. And neither did I."

Teddy didn't let go. He hugged Tommy a little tighter when he finished, mindful of the breaks. He just waited.

Sure enough he felt Tommy hugging back after a moment. Teddy was worried that he might be hurting himself, squeezing so hard – he could feel Tommy grasping at the back of his shit, his hand in fists around the fabric – but he just waited until Tommy's shoulders stopped shaking to let him go.

"Sit down will ya? I gotta clean the cuts." Teddy said softly, manoeuvring Tommy to sit him on the closed toilet. Tommy didn't say anything and Teddy didn't feel the need to comment. Teddy went about cleaning the cuts quietly, only talking to ask if something hurt when Tommy would wince.

"All done. God you are just like your brother, I should just become a nurse or something; I already get enough practice patching idiots up." Tommy chuckled, his normal sly grin skating into place, marred only by the now clean cut in his lip.

"Bet Billy would love you in a nurse's outfit."

"Maybe for his birthday."

"Ugh, so didn't need to hear that."

"Hey, you brought it up Shepard."

"Jokes, Altman, not suggestions." Teddy grinned and pushed off the ground, rolling his shoulders.

"Come on kid, I wanna watch a movie and I don't think you're capable of being alone for longer than three seconds without injuring yourself." Tommy snorted again, but found it didn't hurt half as much as it did last time, rolled his eyes and sauntered out of the bathroom to go and change, leaving Teddy to clean up first aid kit.

"Uhh Teddy…."

"Mmmm."

"Why did Tommy just hug me then punch me in the arm and walk away telling me to 'thank the green idiot'?" Teddy smiled to himself before laying the book he was reading on his chest and shooting the confused boy in his doorway a grin.

"Guess he's just feeling thankful."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing." Billy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really, I didn't. He got a little banged up and I did what I do best for you twins – I patched him up." Billy looked over his shoulder, down the hall to where Tommy's room was.

"Seems like you patched up a little more than just his cuts and scrapes T."

"What can I say, I'm like Dr. Phil only with hair." Billy snorted and moved to the bed, shoving the book away and flopping over Teddy.

"Whatever you did he seems happier."

"Yeah." There was a comfortable silence while Teddy massaged the back of Billy's neck lightly.

"Hey B?"

"Mmm?" Billy said incoherently, obviously nearly asleep from the patting.

"What's your opinion on nurse outfits?"


	11. Finals

The bell on the convenience store door jingled and Jess looked up from the magazine she was reading to a familiar sight. She glanced at the clock. 10pm. As always.

The blonde headed to the freezer, grabbed the usual double chocolate death style ice cream, before trudging up to the counter and shooting Jess a strained smile.

"Back again?" She asked as she took his money and clicked at the register.

The boy sighed heavily.

"Finals."

"Freaking out?" He chuckled.

"Nah, I'm pretty much covered for finals. I got a scholarship to NYU, I just need to _pass_. My boyfriend however _is_ freaking out. Massively."

Jess chased away the immediate feeling of disappointment. She _has_ been under the assumption that Mr. Blonde had just broken up with his girlfriend, based on the ice-cream and, sometimes, tissues accompanied by a stressed and on occasion downright demoralized expression. Turns out he was _gay_. AND taken.

_God damn it._

Still, she smiled and nodded to the pint slowly melting on the counter.

"Hence the ice-cream?"

"Hence the ice-cream. He needs it after a long day of studying and exams. He's worse than a pregnant woman with these mood swings, I swear, but you know. Just gotta ride it out. Four more says and then summer is here and I can go back to not watching the Sound of Music every night." The boy laughed easily and Jess joined.

"Musical fan hu?"

"Nope. _Just_ the Sound of Music. I have no idea why."

"Maybe it's the nuns?"

He choked a little on his laughter at that.

"Oh maybe. I'm Teddy by the way."

"Jess."

"Nice to meet you properly. Well. Better get this home to Billy before he cracks under the pressure and blows up the house or something."

Jess laughed.

"He wouldn't actually blow up the house would he?" She joked. Teddy's face became a little more serious.

"Uh. Maybe. I better actually run." Jess watched as he all but fled the convenience store.

"Woah. Crazy boyfriend," she murmured, returning to her magazine.

Teddy knocked on the door cautiously, like he did every night.

"Bee?"

"I'M STUDYING." Teddy flinched at the volume of his tone.

"I have ice-cream?"

Teddy waited a minute before the door cracked open a crack.

"Chocolate?" Billy asked hopefully.

"Double."

"Come in." Teddy pushed the door open slightly and slid inside. The room was covered in papers, books piled open on top of each other and Teddy had to avoid stepping on a broken pencil.

Billy climbed back to his desk while Teddy fell on the bed and prepared himself for the nightly argument.

"Nu uh Bee. On the bed or no ice-cream."

"Can't I have it while I work?"

"No. Your mother's only letting me stay here during finals to _force_ you to take a break after eleven. It's eleven. Get on the bed."

"If she knew you were saying that as your tactic she might not be so eager," Billy grumbled, picking his way around books and tottering piles of notes to collapse on the bed next to Teddy.

"Actually I think after she found your math book in the refrigerator she snapped a little. She gave me a box of condoms and said 'just calm him down.'"

Billy shot up in his seat, scandalized.

"No!"

"Yup."

"She did not!"

"They were flavoured."

"Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh! NO I AM DELETING THAT FROM MY BRAIN, YOU NEVER SAID THAT."

Teddy just laughed and pulled out the ice-cream, tossing Billy a spoon.

"Come on. Put a movie on."

"Sound of music?"

Teddy's smile became very strained but he nodded.

"Throw it in." Billy grinned, maybe a little _too_ happily and bounced off the bed, hitting play on the VCR. Teddy had rewound the tape that afternoon while Billy was still in freak-out mode. Because Billy watched the _original_ tape version.

Then Billy was back on the bed, cuddling up beside him and pressing his lips under Teddy's chin.

"I love you," Billy murmured before pulling the ice-cream up and popping off the lid.

"Was that to me or the ice-cream?

"Both."

Teddy just laughed and let Billy attempt to feed him ice-cream.

Okay, maybe finals weren't _so_ bad.


	12. Acceptance Letters

**Part of the "It ain't easy bein' a hero in high school" series - this is the next ficlet in the "inbetween" before the actual second series begins. There is one more ficlet planned before the series starts.**

**For faster updates, information, to message me, etc, follow me on Tumblr at .com or track tag the tag "educational fanboys" on Tumblr.**

Somewhere off to his left an alarm buzzed irritatingly, coaxing him from sleep with a gurgle and a series of random slaps on the table which the alarm sat until the buzzing ended. Slowly he attempted to drag himself from the bed when a strong arm wrapped around his waist, too strong for his sluggish sleep deprived state to fight off, pulling him back under the warmth of the covers.

"Teddddyyyyyy," he whined unhappy, pushing half-heartedly on the arm while the warmth settled into his limbs, making them heavy and stiff– it was already hard enough to wake up, his boyfriend didn't need to make it harder. Teddy simply rolled, trapping the shorter boy between himself and the soft mattress, which was way more comfortable than it should have been, and nuzzled the underside of his chin.

"No. You can wait."

"Bu-"

"No buts."

"Today could be the day!"

"The mail will still be there later."

Teddy pulled him closer and brought his lips to Billy's ear.

"Stay with me," he purred sleepily, wrapping a leg around Billy's waist. How could Billy get up after _that?_

"Cheat," he muttered unhappily, settling in the bed more comfortably.

Teddy just hummed happily, his breath tickling on Billy's neck until they both sunk into unconsciousness.

A second alarm – at a more reasonable time, Teddy would like to point out – roused them again. This time Teddy had no objection to getting up, but as with most mornings he wasn't _actually_ awake when he got up, simply going through his morning routine with eyes practically shut and making small grunts if Billy asked him something. To be honest, this was Billy's favourite time to ask Teddy things – mostly because while he was completely unaware when you actually asked the question would eventually register in his brain and Teddy was prone to answering it properly hours, and on one occasion days, later, often at school, earning him many confused looks.

Lately, however, Billy's mind had focused on one thing.

_The mail._

Finals were finished and graduation was looming before him like a threat he couldn't face as Billy _or_ Wiccan. Any day now he should be getting letters in the mail telling him which colleges thought he was worth the effort – and therefore he'd been checking the mail with a feverous obsessive habit.

So when Teddy stood to go to the bathroom Billy scrambled out of bed and made for the door, determined but nervous, mentally chanting for this to be the day he got his letters but careful not to repeat the mantra out loud. Teddy's finger caught the back of Billy's boxer briefs, making him pause and one tired, slightly bad breathed morning kiss later Teddy nodded, grunted in a way that meant "okay go be my weird freaky boyfriend and fetch the mail" and gave him a light push to the door.

Billy left grinning.

"You're up late William."

"Yeah, normally you're up much earlier than this. Someone keep you up late, hu _William_?"

Billy dodged the twins, ignoring their ribs – seriously, when did those guys get so big, he pretty much blinked and they went from toddlers to annoying young adults – making his way out to the mail box.

The twins had taken up the unfortunate habit of calling him William ever since by some unfortunate twist of fate they'd come home from school early to find Teddy teasing him on the couch. Sure, they'd been relatively dressed (at the time) but still, it was clear what their intent was.

Teddy just really liked the flush of red that expanded over Billy's cheeks and neck when he bit and licked at Billy's hip bone while asking positively filthy questions and using Billy's full name. So naturally, the twins heard enough to keep Billy from making eye contact with them for a week and Teddy was suddenly way more enthusiastic about Billy coming back to his house in the afternoons rather than the other way around.

Teddy got over it pretty quickly and the twins learned not to tease him just about as fast – unless they _actually_ wanted intense personal details about their older brother's sex life they shouldn't jokingly ask Teddy. Because he'd answer.

In detail.

Billy shook his head and took a breath in – if he'd been accepted anywhere there would be large envelopes. If he'd been rejected they would be small envelopes. Nervously he pulled the tray open.

No big envelopes.

His heart crashed in his chest and disappointment flooded him. Somewhere in his brain a voice reminded him that this could be the same as yesterday and that there wouldn't be any letters for him at all among the bills and bank statements, but now the worry about rejection was intense. He quickly scraped up the pile of rectangles and shuffled through them.

Nothing.

The breath he didn't realize he was holding released in a _woosh_ and he swallowed before heading inside.

"Nothing again?" His mother asked as he dropped the stack on the bench.

"Nope."

His mother hummed, frowning.

"Natalie Thompson's girl got hers yesterday."

The little pit in his stomach got deeper. Or what if his applications never went through? What if nobody wanted him at all, so badly that they chose not to respond? The look on his face must have been stricken because Rebecca smiled lightly at him and patted his hand.

"Don't worry, it won't be long now."

"Uh hu."

Billy dragged himself back up the stairs and flopped on the bed. This daily emotional work up was really starting to take its toll. He just wanted to _know_. There was a warm hand on the back of his neck.

"No letter hu?"

Billy gurgled incoherently into the pillow and Teddy chuckled, giving his neck a little squeeze before moving to change. Below them Billy heard his mother's raised voice as, presumably, one of the twins did something idiotic or just generally dick-ish. A few minutes later there was a light knock on the door, which Billy let Teddy answer.

A minute later there was a cough and Teddy said in a slightly satisfied, slightly annoyed voice.

"Billy. Your brothers have something for you."

Billy rolled, sitting up with a sigh, to be greeted by his younger brothers, both of whom looked properly guilty. And there, in Andy's hands, slightly scrunched in one corner, were a small pile of A4 envelopes.

"We're sorry we took your letters," Andy began but Billy was already off the bed and snatching them from his grip, to interest in their contents to be annoyed at his brothers at this moment. He ripped into the envelopes while Teddy ushered the younger boys from the room.

A few minutes later he had five pieces of paper sitting before him.

Fordham. Manhattan College. NYU. Burkeley. Columbia.

Oh my god.

_He got into Columbia._

That's Ivy League.

_He got into an Ivy League school_.

"Bee?" Teddy asked hesitantly when Billy didn't say anything for a while. Billy looked up at him in a sort of dazed manner.

"I'm going to Columbia."

Teddy's resulting grin was blinding and Billy felt like his chest was going to break under the force of Teddy's hug.

"I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you!" Billy gripped him back just as tightly.

He'd been accepted to Columbia. He was going to college. A _good_ college. A _great_ college. He could stay in New York. He crushed his lips to Teddy's, the grip in the blondes hair surely painful and didn't pull away until he honestly couldn't breathe.

"I love you."

Teddy laughed and kissed him again.

"I love you too you weird little thing. Now come on," Teddy swept the letters up in his hand, the other wrapped firmly around Billy's waist, "let's go show your mother."

Later Billy dyed all his brother's white clothing pink with magic and called it an error in the wash, and really, they had no evidence to prove otherwise.

Teddy had gotten letters the previous day. He got a partial basketball scholarship to Columbia. Teddy's mother flipped, shouting and cheering loudly with many woops until her son was a bright red with embarrassment. That night she brought home a cake – because she couldn't cook it herself—and the two of them sat together for a few hours and just celebrated before he went to Billy's for the night. He waited until Billy had his letters to tell him, because he didn't want to freak his boyfriend out by telling Billy that he got his letter when Billy was still waiting.

Billy nearly fainted when Teddy told him.

The twins heard them "celebrating" and vowed never to mess with Billy's mail ever again as they cleared out of the house.


	13. Graduation

Billy walked among the crowd of black scanning for Teddy – it would be impossible to find him in the mess of fabric, but that didn't mean Billy wouldn't try. He spotted his mother, settled in a chair between his father and Teddy's mother, the twins fidgeting beside his dad as they waited impatiently.

A few rows behind them he spotted a familiar looking head of blonde hair and had to do a double take.

Teddy was standing by a crowd of teenagers not clad in black, grinning like a fool and chatting animatedly. Beside him Tommy looked like he was going to be sick but he pulled the boy over anyway.

"What's this?" Billy asked to catch Teddy's attention.

"Billy!" A small blonde thing crashed into his chest and Billy laughed as he hugged her.

"Not using secret identities anymore?" Stature – two years together and it was completely unfair that she knew his name and he didn't know hers – grinned up at him.

"It doesn't seem useful now that Iron Lad is back in the timeline…" her smile faltered slightly. It hadn't been a good couple of weeks – after Doom's… death, Iron Lad had returned to the timeline to see how this affected his future. He hadn't returned and it was looking less and less likely that he would come back. Then the Avengers reassembled and took back Vision, re-installing adult programing. The losses had been the hardest on Stature.

Still. They still had Patriot and Hawkeye and Stature, so they were still a team. Still a family. But…

"So can I learn your name now?"

She grinned at him.

"Of course. Cassie Lang. Nice to actually introduce myself to you." She stuck a hand out in a formal manner and Billy had taken it in a firm shake before his mind jumped.

"Cassie _Lang?_ Like Scott Lang? _You're Ant Man's daughter?" _

"I put it together months ago and I'm not even a fan boy," Tommy muttered beside him. Cassie poked her tongue out at him and he winked in reply. The other girl – brown hair, purple shirt, definitely Hawkeye – nudged Cassie lightly out of the way so as to congratulate Billy herself. Cassie moved next to Tommy, tugging on his messy white and making some kind of comment that had him grinning and passing a sarcastic remark.

"I'm Kate. Kate Bishop."

Billy took her hand.

"That's why we have Bishop publishing house – I thought you found it abandoned."

She grinned wickedly, the move just as fierce without an arrow in her hand.

"Nope. Own it. Anyway, _this_ poor sucker," Kate grabbed the arm of the boy behind her – Patriot, "is gonna have his turn for introductions."

"Eli Bradley," he said with a small, rare smile, catching Billy's hand and shaking firmly once.

"Wow. I mean. Like. I can't believe you're all here! This is amazing!"

"You thought we'd miss this? We save the world together – might as well be there for your other important events. I gotta ask, why didn't we do identity reveals earlier…? It was so much effort."

Billy just shrugged, to overjoyed that not just his family but his friends, who were kinda like his other family, came to see him graduate. Teddy grinned down at him.

"Forgetting something?"

Billy frowned at him until Teddy waved his arm out, indicating at his graduation gown.

"Shit. Better go change! See you after?"

Teddy caught his arm, dropping a kiss on his cheek.

"Count on it."

"Stop that."

"It's itchy."

"It's a graduation gown, what did you think it was made of, cashmere?"

"No," Billy huffed, lowing the sleeve of his gown once more, "I just assumed it would be less like wearing a coat of dog hair."

Tommy snorted and checked his reflecting in the mirror, adjusting the gown around a shiny golden sash.

"Waddya think, should I go with the traditional "I thank everyone" or the more personal "fuck you, fuck they lot of ya?" Billy smiled at the sarcasm in Tommy's tone, only just managing to mask nerves and pride.

Billy was nervous about graduation, sure. He knew he was going to trip. Or say the wrong thing to the Principle. Or freak out and teleport off the stage. Or, knowing his luck, a monster or villain of some kind would attack the stage right as he accepted his diploma. But his nerves were nothing like what Tommy's must be.

"I dunno, I've never spoken in front of the whole school before."

"I think I'll go with the second one."

"Well they got the 'dick' part right," Billy grinned at his brother.

"Hey," Tommy said sternly, waving a finger at Billy, "that's Mr. Valedictorian to you, you lousy slightly above mediocre student."

"Whatever, whatever."

Speed reading and a damn near perfect memory meant that Tommy could basically flip through a text book and have it memorized. Sure, if people knew he probably wouldn't be wearing that golden sash right now. But personally, Billy thought he deserved it. He still worked to get his grades and any free time he had been spent "hero-ing" around the world. Tommy might not be the best student but he was smart and resourceful. Too many people underestimated him. Tommy had offers from some of the best schools in the country (and other countries too) but he had settled on Columbia.

"It's a good school," he had said firmly when he told Billy, "this has nothing to do with you being accepted there."

Still. Columbia wasn't Harvard or Yale or Oxford or Cambridge (all places which Tommy now had acceptance letters too)

Apparently he did _really_ well on exams.

"Billy?" The voice pulled through the curtain of the changing room and Billy fought a groan.

"In here Mom."

Rebecca Kaplan bustled in, comb in hand and was chatting before Billy could so much as say hello, running the comb though his hair and reminding him to thank the principle, and don't do that weird squinty thing when he collected the diploma, rubbing at a small spot of dirt on his nose that he had obviously missed.

"Yes Mom," he sighed obligatorily. She smiled at him.

"Good. I'm so proud of you!" She hugged him happily and he was sure that was it – but when she let go she turned, straight to the unsuspecting and lightly snickering Tommy and started on _him_, combing the hair and tugging the sash perfectly straight, smoothing it down, telling him not to be nervous because he had earned his place as valedictorian.

"I'm so very, very proud of you Thomas."

"Th-thank you Ms. Kaplan."

"Oh call me Mom, I already think of you as my son."

Tommy's expression was a perfect layer of shock, but his eyes softened as she hugged him.

That didn't stop him from scrunching up his nose when she kissed his cheek and wiped at the small amount of lipstick left behind there. She mimicked the move on Billy before waving them off and disappearing.

Billy shot a sideline glance at him when she was gone – he was standing stock still and had a look kind of like someone had punched him in the stomach.

"You okay in there? You're not gonna be sick while giving your speech are you?"

Tommy flushed a light red.

"I just. You know. Didn't expect it. I didn't expect anyone. Just kinda. You. And Teddy," Tommy admitted, not meeting his eyes, "but… Cassie and Kate and Eli… and your Mom. It's just…"

Billy felt his jaw click. Sometimes Billy forgot that Tommy's family had abandoned him, so wrapped up in his little world of school, magic and Teddy. He was lucky to have his parents out there, a mother to smudge the dirt off his nose and a father to ruffle his hair and little brothers to annoy the shit out of him.

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Tommy before the other boy could protest.

"You know they love you right?"

Tommy made a huffing sound at the contact but still returned it.

"You sound like your boyfriend."

"It's true."

"Yeah, yeah," Tommy said, grinning as he pushed Billy away, "I know, I know."

Tommy turned back to the mirror and inspected his cheek, making sure the lipstick was fully wiped off.

"Alright wonderboy, quit with the pruning," Billy joked, "we gotta get out and line up." Tommy nodded, choosing not to bite back at the comment and following Billy wordlessly out of the changing room.

He must have been really nervous.

There were speeches. And more speeches. Then someone played some music and a song was song. Then yet _more_ speeches.

Tommy's was the best by far, sending ripples of laughter through the crowd before closing with a rather heartfelt mention to his "family of friends, the brother he lost and found and the mother not afraid to use a comb on his hair."

Sure enough, Billy's glance toward his mother confirmed tears and laughter when he nodded at her specifically and she cheered rather enthusiastically at the end.

And then. THEN.

Finally.

They started.

Teddy was in the first batch – Altman. Billy smiled and waved nervously as Teddy took the stage and shook the Principal's hand, pulling his tassel over to the left. There was a small eruption of sound at his name from the back of the room, and with a glance Billy saw it was Cassie and Kate, whooping beside a very embarrassed looking Eli who simply clapped louder. This was rivalled only by Teddy's own mother who stood and cheered.

Then more names, half of which Billy didn't remember or couldn't place faces too until,

"William Kaplan,"

Deep breaths. One step at a time. His heart was pounding in his chest. There was clapping from the crowd.

_Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip, don't trip, don't trip… _

He shook the principal's hand with a dazed smile. The man said something and Billy vaguely remembered saying thank you in there somewhere before moving off to the left. He pulled the tassel across his cap and grinned at the crowd, listening to the applause before walking off and trying hard once again to not fall.

He practically fell back into his chair and took steadying breaths until Tommy was called. He looked a lot calmer than he had before he went onto the stage, smiling serenely into the crowd before tossing a wink toward the back, presumably at Cassie who no doubt had stuck her tongue out at him (which a quickly glance confirmed).

And then the Principal was taking the stage, announcing something and suddenly everyone around him was standing, caps thrown into the air. Billy was just a second too late, but still, you couldn't tell in the crowd of caps flying.

Everyone was talking and moving and jostling and trying to find their families. He got lost in the crowd for a moment before he crashed into Teddy, who pulled him close, laughing and grinning and trying to help him fight the crowds to their mothers.

And that was when Cassie crashed into them with a grin and held up her beeper.

"Come on Graduates, day's not done till we kick some portal creatures ass."

Billy and Teddy exchanged a look and agreed to quickly excuse themselves from the family for an hour or so.

"Reckon we'll make it back for the celebrations?" Teddy ask as they ditched their robes and took off for the nearest alley to change.

Billy grinned up at his boyfriend as his Wiccan costume wrapped itself around his form.

"I'd bet on it."

He'd graduated high school.

He'd _survived_ high school.

At this point? He could take on the world.


End file.
